Unsafe Streets.....

[Lampman]

Yes,Mancie I deal with young people in the course of my work(as well as other age groups)
I see all types of kids(and adults for that matter),I think upbringing has a big bearing on behaviour as too does the lottery of which friends the youngsters make.Peer pressure has a lot to do with it,to be one of the 'in-crowd' is a big concern.This could be something as little as which clothes they wear to which soccer team is supported.
I myself was no angel as a kid,though I can never remember targeting any adults with abusive language etc.
Lots of parents are indeed unaware or uncaring of what little Jimmy and Kylie might be upto.Out of sight,out of mind is the mindset of some parents.
Youth clubs help alleviate the problems youngsters cause on the streets,though one downside is that at closing time gangs of kids are released onto the streets at the same time.Do they all go straight home to mum and dad and a cup of cocoa?
The kids need good roll models,where now are they to be found,reality television shows?
This and other threads on the site shows that there are indeed decent youngsters around with perhaps a minority causing problems then giving all a bad name.
Most kids will grow up in all meanings of the words,some will unfortunately graduate from petty nuisance to full blow criminals,Such is life!
Long winded rant over.

[Eric]

It's not easy being young. And I think it is getting harder; don't know for sure as I don't qualify any more. When I was young, it was a more insular time. Mass immigration had yet to begin, the nightmare of nuclear holocaust was still only a bad dream, the Earth was still fairly green, and adults had yet to completely lose our trust. Lampman is right to question the role models kids are faced with today. Kids today look at the world, and they have more access to what is going on than we ever had, and what do they see: Adults screwing up. They grow up in a world which is not necessarily more violent, but more pointlessly violent. Leaders no longer lead, they send. Honour is a shabby remnant of what it used to be; it is concocted out of lies and half-truths, a mere transparent excuse for self-interest, and political convenience. This is what blares out of the boob tube everyday.

Yet it is wrong to blame government and big business for the political, spiritual, and environmentat messes we are in. The real enemy? "We have found the enemy and he is us."

[Lampman]

Sadly this is true!