Our local police department have been running round this town like wild things for weeks, chasing kids who are playing with fireworks. Every night, on the road behind our house, children aged 7 to about 13 congregate to throw fireworks. They stand in a huddle, light the fireworks, run for their lives, and then the guy with the fireworks throws it into the midst of them all. Then you hear them all scream, and then laugh.
We had the police out last week. Sam was in the garden, at about 5.30pm, playing on his trampoline. Some kids thought it would be funny to light a firework and thrown it into the trampoline whilst he was in it! The thing flew past his head and, needles to say, he was very frightened. The police came out and said their usual "there's nothing we can do about it." This morning there was another burnt out firework in the trampoline. Now the kids are too scared to go into their own back garden.
Right now, it is almost 9.30pm and I can see kids throwing fireworks in all directions. Where do the parents of these children think they are? What do they think they are up to? They are standing on a main road doing this... are they not even slightly scared that someone will see them and report them to their parents?
The police say that they are doing all they can. They say that they liase with all the schools to teach how dangerous fireworks are, and that there is nothing more they can do. Right enough they do send home a letter with each child, about the dangers of fireworks. But I can't help thinking that if they actually sent home a letter saying that "children from this road, and that road, are playing with fireworks openly in the street" then perhaps the parents who live in those roads might take more notice.
Of course, while the police run around every evening chasing kids, the local newspaper is dealing with desperate issues such as "will anyone give a home to little fluffy the poodle", "has anyone seen Mrs McKee's miniature garden gnome?" Why don't the newspapers get together with the police and do a report about these problems? Make people ask themselves "what are my kids up to?"
The police woman who came out to our home gave us this wise (snort) piece of advise.... "don't let the kids know that you phoned the police or they will make your life hell". Oh yes, let's all be scared of the children, let's all hide in our homes and hope for the best while one of them blows someones face off with a firework. Yes, that'll do the trick. At least then we won't have to fear any reprisals.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hazel I whole heartedly agree with you. If the police turn a blind eye to this, its no wonder this country has the problems it does. Sort out the kids and teach them respect. If either of my kids did this sort of thing there would be huge repercussions for them. C
ReplyDeleteYou should send that in to your local paper
ReplyDeleteHannah
It's a rather bizarre aspect of modern 'society' that we live in a kind of inverted police state. That is, the police (and in many cases parents) appear to be more afraid of kids than vice versa.
ReplyDeleteIn our village it's increasingly unpleasant to visit the shops after dark as groups of yobs hang around swearing, spitting, drinking and kicking footballs across the road at each other, often when cars are coming. My daughter asks; 'are they bad boys daddy?' It's a difficult question to answer.
Why does it happen? Is it the parent's fault? Is it the decline of respect for elders and law and order? Is it boredom?
My own personal opinion (trust me I have an opinion on absolutely everything) is that 99% of the problem is bad parenting. If kids are brought up with little parental contact, no respect for anyone (including themselves) and raised on a diet of nihilistic soaps populated with miserable characters constantly being nasty to each other, they're going to reckon that anything is fair game to alleviate their self-imposed boredom. Drugs, petty crime and two fingers to society are the result.
Bring back the good old days when punks sang about anarchy in the UK, that's what I say.
Hi Davy, good to see you back!
ReplyDeleteIs not a Davy -- is me, Borat, from Kazikstan. I sure this Davy is neither grumpy nor middle-aged and I bet good look too. As we say in Belfast -- ciao.
ReplyDelete