Teenagers complain there’s nothing to do, then stay out all night doing it. ~Bob Phillips
Society is constantly changing but it amazes me that the levels of gang attacks, mostly teenagers, appear to have risen to a state of chaos.
The recent in Warrington on a 47 year old father of three is the tip of the iceberg and should not be taken lightly. Gary Newlove confronted a group of youths who had vandalised a mechanical digger and a vehicle outside his home. He was then set upon by the youths and died two days later in hospital from severe head injuries. Six teenagers have been arrested.
In Crystal Palace, south-east London, a 23 year old man was attacked by two teenagers he confronted for throwing litter into a car window. One of the youths took out a knife and stabbed or punched Evren Anil in the face causing severe head injuries. He died in hospital on Monday morning.
In Fife, a man was seriously assaulted, and subsequently died, by a group of youths after making his way home at around 12.30am on Saturday. In February of this year, Ernest Norton from Kent died from a heart attack after a gang of youths, aged between 12 and 14, threw rocks and stones at Norton and his 17 year old son as they played cricket in a local park.
So how does this come about and who is to blame? There are some parents who will try everything to not take responsibility blaming society, films, the media, music, computer games etc anything that will postpone admonishing their children.
Raising a family can not be considered easy there is no denying that but at the same time, even with both parents working, there still has to be values, morals and a sense of right and wrong instilled into children from a young age. If this does not happen then it’s pretty obvious that a child is more then likely to step outside the rules when there are no boundaries.
Pete Fahy, Chief Constable of the Cheshire Police, is seeking many changes in the way society deals with teenagers and with alcohol consumption:
Alcohol is too cheap and too readily available and is too strong. Young people cannot handle it.
Fahy also stated that “a hardcore” of parents are “turning a blind eye” to their children’s behaviour and that a society should not exist where adults feel scared to “challenge youngsters up to no good as this just breeds fear and isolation”.
No longer is it a case of simply banter or mild abuse in any dispute with teenagers. Now it’s anything from a beat down to stabbings to possible shootings. It’s a frightening prospect which is heightened by the fact that, in Britain and Ireland, there simply are not enough Police officers to cope with it all.
The young always have the same problem - how to rebel and conform at the same time. They have now solved this by defying their parents and copying one another.
Quentin Crisp
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 and is filed under Love Thy Neighbour, Pain and suffering, Thoughts & Questions, Views on News.
You can leave a comment.
Charles Letterman Says:
Watching the interview with the widow of Gary Newlove, the father of three brutality kicked to death outside his own house, I was pleased with the sense of outrage I felt.
Our society has crumbled so much over the past few years it’s easy to pass this sort of event off with a shrug, but watch the emotional statement of a grieving widow and reality hits.
Cheap booze and bad parenting is being blamed for the decline. Personally I like cheap booze. I enjoy it fairly responsibly and it doesn’t result in the need to go out and commit criminal damage and act violently. Increasing the age of legal purchase of alcohol to 21 would be a better idea.
As for poor parenting I know from bitter experience that a teenager will do whatever he wants to do. Instilling core social values into your children as they grow up is essential - but once they reach their formative teenage years hormones, peer pressure and the need to socialise take over, and there’s not much you can do about it. Try telling a 16 year old towering above you that he can’t go out.
But once a delinquent kid turns 18 there is a simple solution. Sever the umbilical cord and throw them out. Remove the comforts of a bed, a fully stocked refrigerator and hot and cold running water. It’s harsh. It goes against all parental instincts, but for some it could give them enough of a shock to make them look at themselves and grow up. And hopefully it would go someway to shutting up the ‘I blame the parents’ brigade, who know nothing about the social pressures of 2008.
January 17th, 2008 at 9:11 am