Anti-social behaviour

Subject: Anti-social behaviour Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:56 am

Could this be the root of the rise in youth crime ??

Today a many youngsters hang around in large groups which the media love to call gangs, personally I think many of them are just groups of youths, because it's a large group there is a lot of noise, youngsters like to show off for their mates so they do things that they would not do on their own or in smaller groups, we also find some stupid people buy drink for these kids who like to think that they are grown up enough to handle that, over a period of time in the larger groups this behaviour grows until it gets out of control and becomes what we now label as Anti-social behaviour.

Back in the sixties there was still a lot of crime and people using knives but those people were usually older than those causing problems today, but in those days we had a lot more beat bobbies and parents took a much more active role in controlling their kids.

If you were standing around in a group of more than four local bobbies would often come along and break the group up ( I remeber my older brother being charged with loitering outside of our own home), parents did not go to bed while their kids were still out roaming the streets they would always be called in before it got too late ( I remember often hearing the shout of "another ten minutes maw" ).

Parents need to instill socially responsible value in their kids at a young age, something that is not happening because many of the parents have no values and are only intersted in screwing the system.

We need a return to grass roots community policing, not two officer occaisionally passing through in car or turning up an hour or more after someone phones in a complaint but a proper police presence on the streets interacting with the community.

I dont have all the answer but I am sure that more police on the streets would make a huge difference.

Alan

Subject: Re: Anti-social behaviour Thu Jul 17, 2008 3:05 pm

Yes its a complex subject. When i was a teen i used to hang around with my group of freinds on the streets and in parks etc. We used to drink and do some stupid stuff but we never did anyone any harm and didnt go out to cause trouble. Now I have teenagers of my own and thankfully they are not doing this and seem to be much more informed about community and citezenship skills which they cover at school. I dont drink my self, or use any other substances, and thankfully my kids dont seem interested in it. They see it as negative really. I do feel that many teenagers now have a lot of pressure on them from all sides and all seem to get tied with the same brush by many people. It seems obvious that there is a great drinking problem in this society which is killing people, families, and communities from the inside out. I have seen on many occassions people bahaving in shocking antisocial ways and these are not young immature people but people who are much older than myself (I am 30) and should in my opinion know better. I work with the elderly and again i see the same. Its easier for the media to blame the young ones etc than to say there are concerning problems in all generations and groups. My kids school has police officers there which i would of never seen a police officer in school when i was there. There are problems with a growing gang culture in many schools and is spreading among boys and also girls. One lad who attacked my son, i had him arrested in school and taken to the station where they took picture and DNA samples and also fingerprints. He was only about 13 and his parents had to be present. However even though apparently his mother was hard on the lad afterwards she still had the nerve to go to the pub while leaving him at home with his mates driniking vodka.