View Full Version : Britain living in fear of youngsters?
Britain is in danger of becoming a nation fearful of its young people, a new study claims.
Research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), to be published next month, shows that British adults are less likely than those in other European countries to intervene to stop teenagers committing anti-social behaviour.
The 200-page report says 65 per cent of Germans, 52 per cent of Spanish and 50 per cent of Italians would be willing to intervene if they saw a group of 14-year-old boys vandalising a bus shelter, compared with just 34 per cent of Britons.
Taken from the AOL lifestyle pages.
What do you think? I think it is true to a certain degree.
percy toboggan
22-Oct-06, 19:27
I can go with those stats. In Italy, such behaviour would be unimaginable in my, albeit limited experience.
This is another sign of a dysfunctional society created in part by useless politicians and some hopeless parents.
i totally agree with you percy.
all to often kids are found wandering about the streets with nothing better to do than get up to no good, i blame it partley on there being nothing for the kids to do, but, mostly with the parents, i have often seen young children as young as 5 maybe even younger, out after dark getting up to no good and shouting cheek among other things at people.
I personally dont think its right for kids that young to be out in the dark.
its makes you wonder how many parents actually know where their kids are and what they are up to, i know they cant be watched 24/7 but more and more you hear of kids terrorising neighbourhoods maybe not so much up here yet, but as with everything else its only a matter of time.
most folk dont want to tackle kids about what they are doing for fear of being accused of alsorts.
when i was younger a good clip round the ear from the local bobby did wonders nowadays it would be called child abuse.
sad but at the end of the day society has made it easier for them to run wild and get out of hand[evil]
connieb19
22-Oct-06, 19:50
I think that a lot of parents nowadays couldn't really care less what their kids are doing as long as they aren't doing it in their own homes, and as long as the parents are getting peace. There's too much greed now too, with it being a competition to see who's kids have the best clothes and latest gadgets. If this is the way they are being brought up, no wonder they have no respect for others.
Maybe some people should take heed of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyq6OtI9Au0
Well my mum told me an awful story when I visited her the other week. She was coming home from Tai Chai (or however you spell it) on a bus (she lives in Glasgow and is 76). The bus was full and she sat on a seat which can fold up and be used for space for kiddies buggies. A young mother got on with a pushchair so my mum got up to let the lassie in. The lassie shouted at her and told her to move further cos she couldn't get her buggy in. My mum (who also has osteoperosis) tried to move up a bit when a young guy also with a pushchair laughed and said I don't bother with old people either! So my mum got off the bus - not at her stop - because she was embarrassed, and walked home! I felt really angry that youngsters could treat people like that!
I think that a lot of parents nowadays couldn't really care less what their kids are doing as long as they aren't doing it in their own homes, and as long as the parents are getting peace. There's too much greed now too, with it being a competition to see who's kids have the best clothes and latest gadgets. If this is the way they are being brought up, no wonder they have no respect for others.
Maybe some people should take heed of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyq6OtI9Au0
i can totally see the seriousness of this but hey connie the end bit is well funny and so very true:roll:
There is certainly a small element if young people who seem to be totally out of control for one reason ot another.
What I find of concern is their "You can't touch me," attitude and the fact that they can often quote their rights , chapter and verse.
Some how it seems that things have gone more than a little topsy turvey when I can't lay a finger on some one who is stealing my property, hurling abuse at me, vandalising the house or the garden and generally behaving in a manner that is totally unacceptable in a civilised society.
I am not sure why this is happening as the majority of young people seem to be well behaved albeit in a more relaxed manner than the stiff manners that were expected a few years ago. Perhaps that is part of the problem that there is no expected code of behaviour and very little tuition on what is acceptable and what is not.
concerned resident
23-Oct-06, 09:57
I am afraid this is the society we have created, or should I save governments on our behalf. Would you get your head kicked in, for a bus shelter, that’s what could quite easily be the case. The police would be of no use, as they would say ring us, or come in and make a statement, and leave it for them to deal with? The chances are you would get charged with breach of the peace for interfering with the youngsters. I have learnt by bitter experience, to either deal with the matter your self, and do not involve the police,
As the days of the good old bobby, and British justice have long disappeared, I will say no more.
With many children this starts almost from the moment they're born when they're given everything they want and by the time they are 2 or 3 they know exactly how to manipulate, or even terrorise, their parents. You only have to look at some of the reality TV shows to see the kind of behaviour that goes on unchecked. The law has gone mad - whenever an adult tries to intervene it's the adult that finishes up in Court. Teachers are afraid to discipline children because parents will threaten them. Children's tv is full of violence and makes heroes of characters who flout authority. Thankfully from what I've seen much of this doesn't apply to small children up here but I'm sure they'll soon catch up.
pultneytooner
23-Oct-06, 10:20
Bring back national service 50's style.
Moggy Cattermole
23-Oct-06, 10:26
Having had my Motorbike paintwork scratched a few years back by a bored teen and seeing him do it, I found the attitude of some youngsters seems to be that if you say anything to them they will report you to the Police, Political Correctness being what it is YOU will be the one ending up in Court. I said nothing else after my Initial confrontation (with this in mind) as my housing has CCTV on the Car Park and I assumed after reporting it to the Police it would be dealt with.
I was wrong.
He got off with a caution and as he claimed he wasnt in a position to pay for the damage to be repaired, also his Care Worker made a big thing of his family background being Dysfunctional.
I got a £90 repair Bill.
pultneytooner
23-Oct-06, 10:31
Having had my Motorbike paintwork scratched a few years back by a bored teen and seeing him do it, I found the attitude of some youngsters seems to be that if you say anything to them they will report you to the Police, Political Correctness being what it is YOU will be the one ending up in Court. I said nothing else after my Initial confrontation (with this in mind) as my housing has CCTV on the Car Park and I assumed after reporting it to the Police it would be dealt with.
I was wrong.
He got off with a caution and as he claimed he wasnt in a position to pay for the damage to be repaired, also his Care Worker made a big thing of his family background being Dysfunctional.
I got a £90 repair Bill.
If you say you are going to call the police then all you get round here is them shouting "call the pigs, what are they gonna do"?
Bring back national service 50's style.
Have said this frequently Pt, but its not as easy as that, Teenagers have no respect for order or disclipine these days, we in the age of National Service did.
I have no easy answer to this problem, in todays society a skelp on the lug will get you jail time, thats progress I keep getting told[disgust]
pultneytooner
23-Oct-06, 11:15
Have said this frequently Pt, but its not as easy as that, Teenagers have no respect for order or disclipine these days, we in the age of National Service did.
I have no easy answer to this problem, in todays society a skelp on the lug will get you jail time, thats progress I keep getting told[disgust]
I don't know but having watched the so-called hard men end up crying their eyes out on bad lads army I think the real thing would break them.
We are reaping the rewards of decades of allowing the 'do-goodies' their way. We have taken authority away from the parents, we have taken it away from the police, we have taken it away from the teachers, and the public have no rights at all.
If you intervene in any yobbish carry-ons you are likely to get one or more of the following:
- abuse by the bucket load
- beaten up (and it will be your own fault, mind)
- stabbed ('cos you were asking for it)
- the parents trashing your car, your house and driving you out of the neighbourhood
- arrested for disturbing the peace
- arrested for assault
and why? Because you were doing what was right as a public citizen. These days you are classed as scum and worse if you stand up for public morals. I don't know where it will end because today's lawless youth is tomorrow's parent. Doesn't bear thinking about, does it!
I think it is also interesting to note the change in the attitude of society in general to the youth of today.
During the war young people were held up as the hope of the nation, society was proud of its young people and they were proud to be part of society. sometime over the last fifty years this changed and now to be a young person in our society is to be part of a group that is regularly blamed for all our crime and problems. How did this happen? Is it really the teenagers that are to blame or is it society itself?
We need to find a way of reconnecting with teenagers. Im not convinced that national service is the answer but surely something has to change
During the war young people were held up as the hope of the nation, society was proud of its young people and they were proud to be part of society. sometime over the last fifty years this changed and now to be a young person in our society is to be part of a group that is regularly blamed for all our crime and problems. How did this happen? Is it really the teenagers that are to blame or is it society itself?
I think a major part of the problem is that in those fifty years, we have seen the invention of the 'teenager' as a financial resource to be exploited by companies who promote the 'popular monoculture' of today. As with all victims of exploitation, they simply get disaffected and cause 'trouble'.
Cedric Farthsbottom III
23-Oct-06, 16:57
In my teenage years I smashed a window wi ma fitbaw.The old wifie said"I'm gonna tell yer maw"....I was crapping it for a few days,but nothing happened.
PHEW!!I thought.I got away with it.The next day WALLOP across ma lug."Thats for not being honest wi us",my Mum said.Never lied again.....well almost.
How times have changed?
I think a major part of the problem is that in those fifty years, we have seen the invention of the 'teenager' as a financial resource to be exploited by companies who promote the 'popular monoculture' of today. As with all victims of exploitation, they simply get disaffected and cause 'trouble'.
I agree with you Rheghead. Can I also add that the problem is compounded when our youth have so much commercialism and 'things you need' thrust at them that they get really fed up and feel cheated when they can't have it. My little nieces and nephews really cannot understand that they can't have everything, that the money simply isn't there and yet they are bombarded daily by commercial exploitation.
percy toboggan
23-Oct-06, 17:47
National Service without arms. A concerted one year programme of community service wqewll away from the youngsters home - preferbaly at opposite ends of the country with three short spells of leave. A uniformed army of odd jobbers and a spartan regime 50-50 with doing stuff and learning stuff.
Is this too much like common sense to ever be contemplated by the fools in Westminster?
As for the two ingrates on the bus they should have been attached to it by a rope and dragged for a hundred yards. I've had twenty yards worth of this treatment and would not want to repeat the mistake voluntarily.
danc1ngwitch
23-Oct-06, 17:57
Maybe some children get to much freedom these days!!!
Seems like when u have a word with the parents u feel like it goes over da heads. Infact some parents need watching too.. sad ain':roll: t it..
16yr old girl was charged with drunk driving a disabled persons electric buggy she'd stolen in kirkwall at the weekend, Whatever next :eek:
I think that a lot of parents nowadays couldn't really care less what their kids are doing as long as they aren't doing it in their own homes, and as long as the parents are getting peace. There's too much greed now too, with it being a competition to see who's kids have the best clothes and latest gadgets. If this is the way they are being brought up, no wonder they have no respect for others.
Maybe some people should take heed of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyq6OtI9Au0
Very good connie, LOL. where do you find them!
I dont think national service or the retrun of corporal punishment is the way forward. We tend to forget theres a whole beurocracy out there involved in trying to help disruptive children. Surely this is where resources need to be concentrated?
I've just listened to a phone in on 5 live about this very subject. I was impressed by a magistrate who phoned in and gave a low down on the system. Parents of tearaways were phoning in at their wits end although they all accepted their responsability in the affair.
All of us in the modern world are subjected to a form of state conscription when we are forced to go to school for 11 years. I'm glad that modern governments are hesitant about going back to what it was like when I was a kid. School is as important a contributor to a young persons development as parents. I'm sure the system helps loads of children adapt but even then there are silent casualities.
The whole system is in a state of change and has been ever since the greeks discovered we were alive.:eek:
Human rights is the winner in the PC stakes. If the pansies of the PC brigade and keep the white knuckled traditionalists at bay for another 100 years or so, who knows where political correctness will have taken us?
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.