General Chat

after adding to a thread last night about how these kids drive around without care, just popped out in the car and met up with my son and his mate, they were in thier local high school grounds as were a number of other kids, just hanging round chatting, in groups, wen i came backdown the road, see an unmarked police car inside school grounds and the kids dispersed to church wall opposite, my boy was further up road with his mate, i asked him what happened he said these two coppers came from nowhere as one lad amoung this seperate group went to move away on his motorbike, (which he was just scooting along on, not racing round) these two big coppers dragged him backwards off the bike, he hit his head on floor, lucky he had helmet on, im so mad, if this is the way they treat these kids how can they expect them to behave in a respectful manner, these kids have nowhere to go and hang round in the school grounds just nattering, you know, im not defending the bad ones , but when the really bad ones are about the coppers dont wana know, wouldnt it be better to have a word, rather than use force, they are 14, 15 year olds some of um

Just a few years back my son, then about 15 or 16 was hanging around in the school grounds with several of his mates. A few other groups, younger and older were also there. Some were playing football, some just chatting when a Police officer came in. He started to tell off two of the boys who were playfighting, then when he saw the rest of the group coming towards him he panicked and put out an emergency call. As luck would have it, the local police were setting up for a drugs bust so within seconds there were about 7 police vehicles, dog handler and everything streaming into the school grounds. Of course everyone started to leg it. My son and a couple of his mates were caught, taken to the police cells, questioned and charged. Fortunately 2 Outreach Youth Workers had been sitting in the school field with a group of young people and were able to stand up in Court and tell the truth about what had happened, because they certainly did not get the truth from the Police!

it makes me so angry jim, i will have to find out when the next neighbourhood meeting is and speak up about this or even write to the chief constable monday, as these kids are getting stick and who speaks up in defense for them, people are quick to condemn, but not say when they are the victims, if they are hooligans fine tell um off, sort it out, but these kids are 9 times out of 10 just chattin, i phoned son shortly after i got home to check he was ok, he said coppers gone , the kid in question went off, but a patrol car and riot van are patroling the area, when my daughter got threatened by a known car thief time and again they didnt want to know, it makes me crazy,

i think like most things you have coppers who are good ,do a good job,and know how to behave and talk to the young ones and then you have what are called round our way pigs.my friend is a police officer and some of the kids round here flag her down just for a chat,lol.and its amazing when kids trust ,what they will tell.a lesson to learn me thinks.xxxxx

hi tony,i think you have a good point ,so why dont the councils use spare land for kids like this to play on,that way they leave us alone and amuse themselves,xx

I don't know where you lot live, but here in London and the Home Counties there is very little 'spare land - it's all being used to build densely-packed housing without space for kids to play. I don't hold with kids playing in streets, I think they should be allowed to use school playgrounds, but then that puts up the costs of running the schools - in terms of caretakers and supervisors. You couldn't just have loads of kids roaming about unsupervised in the evenings and school holidays - there would be too much vandalism and graffiti. We managed in Inner London when I was a kid to find places to play or hang around - parks, youth clubs, friends' houses. We were chased away if we made a noise, but why kids these days want to just stand on street corners all night long baffles me. Are these the same kids we're always being told are a nation of couch potatoes? Doesn't stack up, does it? CB >|<

Tony - Well if I attend the next community meeting in my area, I might put that forward as a suggestion. CB - We have loads of land near us they could use. What makes me laugh is they play football in the middle bit of grassland between the houses and there's a football pitch at the end of the road! I don't understand why they hang around street corners night after night - we only did that when the youth club wasn't open. Don't they have such a thing nowadays? Debby

Tony, That's precisely why I don't hold with kids playing in streets - it's just too dangerous unless they're pedestrianised. I sympathise with your 'echo effect'. We have that here. The back of our house and that of our next-door neighbours form one side of a sort of square, with rows of other houses on the sides and a British Legion club opposite. Although the buildings aren't close together, there's still an echo every time anyone shouts or laughs outside the club, or when they play music there. It's very strange, as none of the buildings are more than 2 storeys high and there are lots of big trees around in the middle. We also have two convenience stores nearby that are open late and sell alcohol, so the youngsters hang around them at night, asking older people to buy booze and cigarettes for them. It's only a small minority of youngsters who are a nuisance and cause trouble, but they're bad enough. If any more joined it, it would be mayhem. I'm looking forward to the cold weather - it will keep them indoors. Debby, That doesn't surprise me about the football. Here they even skateboard and ride bikes round your drive, if there are no cars in it! CB >|<

Tony, You have a good point. We begged the local school to make their big playing field available for casual use during the summer holidays but they wouldn't. The Jobsworth answer was that the land belonged to the Education Department, and they couldn't afford the extra cost of wear and tear, Caretaking and occasional damage to the school buildings (which was happening anyway) as if the Department of Education doesn't belong to the people!

I don't for one minute condone heavy handed policing but I do see why school playgrounds aren't opened. Having had to sweep up broken glass before infants can use their own playground doesn't make me want to see an 'open' policy here. Perhaps I shouldn't mention the 'adult' items the caretaker has had to clear away too. Not 100 yards away there is a children's play area and playing field, open to all. Sadly the council has decided that because of repeated vandalism, the most recent after a £24,000 makeover, they can no longer keep pouring money into the upkeep of equipment. The grounds are still open for use though. Some youngsters will cause trouble whatever facilities are provided, spoiling it for those who just want somewhere to go with their mates.

I feel that I must add, SOME of the youth of today are an absolute waste of space.........have no respect for people or property, and as for manners.........huh, they must have thrown them out of the pram, along time ago...... We had a group of people spend three years fund raising to buy equipment to outfit a kiddies' play park on our local open spaces....... train, swings, deathslide.......sand pit and so on. That was about 10 years ago, £45,ooo pounds I believe was raised, and every year since, the council( whose lot it fell, for the upkeep) have been faced with thousands of pounds of repair/replacement bills. the latest episode after a recent refurbishment was for some braindead morons setting fire,using wheelie bins as fuel to the whole complex........ even front gardens, have been uprooted, why on earth would some one steal pumpkins only to use them as footballs..... litter? they walk along to school, dropping their sweet wrappers and drink cans as they go, while passing wheelie bins as they do so.. Graffitti',? a lesson on how to spell might help......what on earth is the message that this inane scribble is trying to pass on, beats me. huh.........give them something to do? words cant spell out what I would like to be done with them............ Bob

Last night my friend in Ashton u Lyne tod me of a crash near his home.... two youngsters forced a lady from her BMW and drove off.. she had a mobile phone informed the police who pursued them.. the BMW crashed and the two youths killed... my friend was upset and referrred to a car being just metal and insured etc and life is more valuable.........I remember many years back when someone stole my Cortina GT that I hoped they killed themselves in it ...........I don't have a lot of sympathy but unsure why.................