Not all yobs

[simoncpg]

In our village we just haveone street with a chippy, chinese/indian/florist/tea room/ and on the other a budgens. Last year the local bobbies (of which there are four) took it upon themselves not to allow any youngsters to group around the shops. When I as a parent asked why this was, Iwas told that old people feel threatened by this.
I think this is a bit of an insult to older people. Anyway I was not the only one who found this a bit strange because on the whole the young people of our small community are a credit to there parents. Also at night the yoyung men and women used to park there cars on the spaces in front of the shops and have a chinwag, no reving of engines or dangerous driving. These are kids who think the world of there cars, spend a lot of money on them and just sat there and talked when the shops were closed.
One of my sons was one of them. But last year they started to get hassled. Police would roll up in there super fast cars. All super cool in shades,asking for drivers details. This I know is perfectly reasonable, but the same cops would come the next night and do the same thing to the same young people. There was never any crime being commited.
Fast forward to the weekend just gone. The chip shop ATM was broken into and the local police are asking for witnesses. I have written to the Chief Constable, pointing out that if they had left the law abiding residents alone then there would have been credible witnessess, and perhaps the perpatrators would have been dissuaded from even trying to rob said shop. CANT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.

[Jeanied]

What an interesting post, Simoncpg. I agree with you that it is a good idea to get to know the youngsters in your area and treat them as human beings and not 'the enemy'. I have lived and worked in this area for the last 25 years and now I frequently go out and bump into people I know. It always feels comfortable that way.

[Kleftiwallah]

I agree. I think a lot of kids are given a bad reputation by old pharts who know no better. I'm 62 and allways have a short chinwag with the kids who wander past my allotment. They all seem pleasant to me so I try and think the best of them untill proven otherwise.

I remember the call of "Begger off and play in your own street" from my youth and we were lucky to have a serviceable push bike.

Cheers, Tony.

[Seahorse]

It makes me really quite sad that teenagers/young folk are assumed to be 'a bad lot'. I don't think it matters what age you are, some people are well mannered, some aren't. You'd think the police would have better things to do than hassle a few kids though...

[Uber-Uncool]

It is a shame that so often teens and young people are thought of as being yobs or of participating in yob culture. As a parent i know for a fact that there are many decent teens/young people, there are also some little sh!ts about for sure. I've known more big (adult) sh!tbags than young uns tho.

[Feral007]

Yes, somehow when people are bagging out the youngsters they forget to mention the older people who are not always the good example they shoud be.

Often you'll find it's the young people who will offer to help someone who needs it while the older people walk past watching but not offering. There are some sh*ts out there, but it's amazing how nice a lot of them will be if you just smile and say hi to them - they kind of look surprised that they said hi back before they realised it!
We have an influx of police during the snow season here. They arrive before the snow and spend their time hassling the teens. There's little to do here and the kids congregate in the various parks and the town lookout. The local cops stop by and check there's nothing dangerous going on and leave with a 'don't forget to clean up before you lot leave!' The newbies come in shining torches in faces and demanding to know who they are? They wouldn't dream of doing that to a group of older people, so why do they think it's ok to do it to the young people. Makes me mad.

[simoncpg]

It is so refreshing to hear all of you praising our young people. We so often get fed rubbish by the media AND the police about them. Of course as has been said there ARE the little shxxs, but you find they come in all ages. My son and his friends (or gang as our local crimefighters would say) have found people laying in the road , called 999 and stayed with them till help arrived. But them good behaviour and manners does not sell papers OR reduce crime figures.

[donnakebab]

Let us know what response you get from your letter. It will be interesting to see what he has to say.

There are a lot of youngsters employed where I work and I get on really well with them. Shoplifters come in all ages too!

[Newton]

It's also a fact that scumbag hoodie druggies hang out in suburban parades and make life hell for the shopkeepers and locals.

It sounds like your village cops might be guilty of tarring all the youths with that same brush. Which is clearly out of order. I would hope that any witnesses would come forward irrespective of whether they had been moved on by the police in recent weeks.

I think that like with most things in life. All incidents should be treated according to their merits or otherwise.

[Vince G]

There are a lot of right little buggers out there, especially the ones that seem to think it is ok to roam around our allotment and have a snout round peoples' sheds and greenhouses. However I agree that these are merely the bad penny in the pound. There are a lot of damned rude and ignorant elderly people about too though, those that nearly mow you down in their mobility scooters, that go through a door and let it swing back in the face of the person behind, never say thank you when you open the door for them, automatically barge to the front of the queue for the bus....and these are the very people that complain about the manners of young people!!

A pal of mine at work gets really wound up by old folks doddering around the town centre at lunchtimes when he has got stuff to do. He's come up with several ideas to cure the problem so far:

1. Snipers on top of shops to pick off crumblies walking too slowly and getting in his way;
2. Tags that prevent them entering the town centre between 1 and 2, any transgression to deliver a small electric shock to the wearer;
3. prohibited from using their cars between 8 and 9 in the morning and 5 and 6 in the evening on main commuter routes; and finally (my favourite)
4. they should be fitted with extra-long retractable dog leads which are secured to their front gate, so that if they get in your way, the lead can be retracted and they fly through the town on the end of it, back to their house.



I've suggested anger management.........

[Feral007]

OMG VinceG - your friend has hit the nail on the head! I have always got so fed up with driving to work, where I'm expected to be on the dot! But there are people doddering around in their cars doing 40-60 kph (city limits) in the country and then you run up behind a logging truck or a cattle truck..........omg those hills can take them 1/2 hr to even get up one! You should have a permit imo to be allowed to go out during 'peak hours'

I had to smile today as a lady just a smidgeon older than me (by looks) waited for my son to open the door and hold it for her; he saw her pause and stand aside, so he opened the door and walked thru, holding it till I came thru, and then I held it till she came thru. She's prob goiing on about the rude youth right now; but you know he knows his mother is more than capable, so he doesn't shut it in your face, he holds it till you reach it and pass it on.
He's the same boy who came to help me when I was organising the markets at a local do. All 3 of my teens helped people of all ages put up their tables and wares, and put them away again. They traipsed up and down the road with their gear so we didn't have to worry about some oldie running over people because they couldn't see in the crowded area. I think that we need to appreciate what the youth does that's good as well as what's not. Our local papers are very good that way. They are as happy to mention any good deeds as well as any not so good. And our local police are the same. They take a real interest in what's happening.
I love having brought my kids up in this atmosphere...........if you're to blame, you're to blame. But if you're not just because your a teen.

[Andromeda]

There are good youths and bad ones, with most of the bad ones being the result of lousy parenting. Policies such as the one in the OP tend to be the result of people being intimidated by groups of youths, unfortunately you can't tell the good from the bad by sight!

These types of reactionary, heavy handed actions are inevitably because the minority spoil things for the majority.

[simoncpg]

Surely its the job of the police NOT to tar all youths with the same brush, my son wears a hoodie but is not a druggie. When people in authority get in that mind set we let ourselves open to all sorts of mistakes, some moore costly than others, ( the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes). Nothe Police should not stop the same young people time and time again unless there is a damn good reason for it. For one thing they should have moore pressing incidents to attend to.

[Uber-Uncool]

Stopping/requesting info from individuals of any age,repeatedly, for now obvious or significant reason whatsoever, is harrassment.