2

Mistershifter

I know its been suggested before, but name and shame them and their family. A rouges gallery could be printed in the JEP!

I’m sure some better parental control would be enforced on publication!

Maybe.

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4

Sarah

stop doing under 18 nights at the local clubs giving them reason to be out

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6

Ches

Whilst I agree that this needs to be under control… I still can’t find respect for Martin Sayers after his offensive comments towards larger girls.

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8

Mo

People have been requesting for sometime more police presence on the streets and yet again one has to wait until something goes wrong. Why wait? These kids should be name and shamed doesn’t matter what age they are and also they should be given a punishment in which is recognised by the public and their parents should accompany them making it obvious and embarrassing for parent.

Parents may then take a reality check and seriously think and take full responsibility for their kid where abouts.

These kids are totally out of control and as far as I can see kids are controlling their parent’s time for the law to come down heavy and take action for once and for all.

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10

ZBD

AD at 3: – Boredom is no excuse for misbehaviour. Every adult has been a teenager and has experienced boredom, but that doesn’t mean they got drunk, became abusive, committed malicious damage or assaulted people.I can assure you that youngsters today have many more facilities than existed when I was a teenager in the 1960s.

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12

PC

And none of the above were ever children once!!!

What sort of havoc, disruptive behaviour did you cause as a child.

Fact, media stir up this, the problem is not as bad as people think.

There is far more drunken bad behaviour caused by adults.

Fact, it is a small minority that cause these problems whatever the age group.

And before any comments come back, I am a responsible adult with children

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14

Jub

Oh and while im at it, does the word curfew spring to anyone elses mind?

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16

Leah Holmes

PC – I was too busy doing constructive stuff. I was in music groups that rehearsed hard enough to get on TV regularly; I made sure I did well at school so I could have a life; I hung out with my friends but usually at one of our houses, and only ever small groups (like max 5 people) at a time; we couldn’t afford a computer but I enjoyed playing instruments and watching TV or getting a video out; I also joined sports clubs to get exercise and meet people! Oh, and in my spare time I did art or wrote music and later formed a band to perform what I’d written.

Funnily enough these are all things that kids can still do! But kids often want others to think for them, how often do you suggest something they could do just to hear the response ‘I can’t be bothered’… people miss out on a lot of fun due to laziness and ‘not being bothered’, adults and kids alike! People need to take responsibility for their own happiness and stop blaming society and asking society to solve their ‘problems’.

AD, I feel for kids in some way in that there may be a little less to do than on some parts of the mainland but then kids here have the low crime rate on their side often allowing them a freedom that kids on the mainland can ill afford! It’s 6 and half-a-dozen frankly as kids nowadays have as many if not more (just different) options to what other generations had.

‘Nothing to do’ is an excuse. It’s an excuse for laziness and lack of imagination.

My mate’s kid, as we recently discovered, has made some fantastic silent comedies and horror films with 3 of his mates. All they’ve used is a cheap camcorder and one of their parent’s computers. They’re very popular on Facebook.

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18

Leah Holmes

Ches, neither do I (I thought that was clear) but it’s not the same as beating someone up (which in any circumstance can result in death).

Anyone who thinks these kids shouldn’t have the full force of the law down on them has not seen someone they love beaten up by a gang… I have! The do-gooders (and the kids) really need to put themselves in the place of the man, his girlfriend and family before they speak in defence of these yobs.

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20

Florida Bean

To try and excuse this teenage behaviour by comparing it with alcohol related adult issues is extremely short sighted.

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22

Bridgetm.

Bring back National Service failing that, bring back the Birch.

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24

KDE (16)

right first of all
its not all the teenagers that cause the fights it can be the adults aswell they shout abuse fairly often as we are walking past telling us to get home in our beds which is provocing us to retaliate back, and we the young youths that get into trouble and not the adults.
why cant we go out and have fun but the adults cant.
people moan that a big majority of teenagers are roaming the streets at night but where else is there for us to go?
explain that!

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26

PJG

KDE 16
Thank you for your point of veiw,It answerers a lot of questions ? ???
We should change the law, 3 strikes and your out..
Out of the human rights umbrella, thereby rendering yourself liable to birching , solitary confinement, stocks etc, need I go on we could gave a competition for the best suggested punishment.
The majority of our islands youth conduct themselves in a manner we can be proud of, its this small minority of foul mouthed,thick,can do nothing for themselves who run around in packs because they have not the courage or wherewithal to command respect from the human race.
We need to weed them out for special treatment.

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28

ben

I was a teenager in Jersey once, we faced the same issues you do now but we never caused any trouble. So there is no excuse for this kind of behaviour. I fail to see how being bored = violence. Maybe their bored because they are to lazy to find anything else to do.

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30

P Lee

Teenagers have homes where they live – that is the place for them to be at night.

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32

Nioleux

KDE

You are full of questions. “why can’t we go out and have fun”, “where can we go” etc. I want, I want, I want.

Like most kids of your age you want stuff provided on a plate for you, preferably free. You don’t want to have to work for it, pay for it or think it up for yourselves.

It must be something that can allow drink and drugs to be secretly involved otherwise you won’t feel like an adult (cos we all do that, right?). And, it can’t be something uncool like sports or youth clubs either. That’s for wierdo’s.

Well here is something for you KDE.

You are not an adult yet. You are a child and I for one am tired of being told how the world owes you something. The only thing we owe you is the benefit of our experience and to keep you secure, safe, fed and clothed.

If you think that an adult reminding you of your bedtime is adequate provocation to start a fight then, firstly it shows your immaturity and secondly makes me think that you probably are out too late for a 16 year old.

Looking at your level of written English for a person of your age, I might suggest you spend a bit more of your spare time improving your education rather than bleating about having nothing to do on here.

That said KDE, you tell us ‘provocative’ adults, what is it that you children want to do?

Full of questions – no answers.

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34

Leah Holmes

And the point is that adults that get into fights can have the full force of the law down upon them, kids seem to be immune from any proper prosecution, that’s what people want changed.

No-one wants to stop kids having fun, they just want a crime to be crime with the same tough punishment regardless of who commits it.

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36

Kirsty

number 2. Mistershifter….’Name and Shame’ and number 5. Moi….Lock them or their parents up …and the rest of you against the parents….

I am a 21 year old local girl who is aware of these increasing crimes. I have a 16 year old brother who has my mum at her wits end.
I think its extremly unfair to ‘name and shame’ families of these children. I think the problem is with the police and so called ‘help’ you can ask for with these children.
MY brother has been in trouble many times, he has been arrested, and charge for different crimes and is still running riot. When he starts kicking off my mum calls the police, the police will arrive and then 10 mins later its all forgotten, many times my mum has called the police and had NO HELP at all. they say he is still a minor and she is still responsible for him.
After his recent court case he was told he had to attend weekly meetings and if he didn’t turn up then he would be straight back to court…of the 11 weeks he should of attended, he has been 4 times….the people who work there and are in charge of him do not bother with him, if he doesn’t turn up, they dont call to check on him, if my mum calls them for help, she never gets her phones calls returned.

I think its ridiculous how little help there is out there. I think if the kids do wrong, treat them as if an Adult has done wrong and enforce the law! forget the families because some children get so bad their families do not want to know! The children are involved in these crimes so they should be punished – no one else!! I say the police have to get more involved and crack down on these kids running round town. The only time i see police out at the weekend is when they are sorting out trouble at clubs concerning adults! get more police sorting out the kids on the street – if the problem is they dont know where their ‘hang-outs’ are, then im more than willing to tell them!

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38

Kev

When I was 17, I went on a French exchange trip and as we all know, it is legal to drink beer from the age of 16 in France. We all took advantage of this rule and as a result, a number of my class mates got stupidly drunk and embarrassed themselves. However, no French student drank stupid amounts, no French student was beyond tipsy and no French student abused alchol. I honestly think if you reduced the legal age from 18 to 16, you would see a siginificant improvement in behaviour in the long term as children will grow up learning how to respect alcohol and as it will not be seen as forbidden to drink it, they won’t abuse it. Britain and the US have major alcohol problems yet their age limits are 18 and 21. Saying that I could be completely wrong and France could have just as bad of a problem. However, I think an establishment should be built for 16-19 years olds where low percentage alcohol is on sale but it can only be drank in the building. If you police this strictly i.e. you misbehave you’re banned, kids willl behave themselves as they will not want to miss out. This will keep them of the street and strictly monitored.

Saying that, I do believe that even this is introduced, the same kids that cause all the trouble, will just cause trouble anywhere and ruin it all the well behaved kids. Boredom is not an excuse. These kids will misbehave no matter what activities are on offer.

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40

Ches (19)

Sarah: “stop doing under 18 nights at the local clubs giving them reason to be out” – That’s a ridiculous suggestion and would just cause more havoc.

KDE: I completely agree that adults can be just as bad as teenagers. After all, where do the children learn this behaviour from?

Saying that – I am unsure whether discipling the parents would be a correct response in some cases – Kids lie about where they are going and what they are doing. Do you expect parents to follow kids around constantly and not have a life of their own?

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42

Pandora's Hope

KDE (16) – From the horse’s mouth, I assume.

Going from A to B doesn’t amount to “roaming the streets”. Aimlessly wandering around looking for something to do does; being drunk and disorderly whilst wandering around aimlessly could amount to a criminal offence (at least it would for an adult).

As for your point about adults “shouting abuse”, telling you to go home – you should be grateful that they have actually taken notice of the fact that you are too young to be roaming the streets at night (something your parents should be telling you and ensuring that you do not do, not strangers!).

As for “where else is there for us to go”?

How about organizing weekend evenings at yours or your friends’ houses, where a bunch of you could get together, watch TV, videos, have a BBQ or do girlie stuff if you are girls and bloke stuff if you are blokes if there isn’t a movie or event which you have arranged to go to?

How about organizing weekend days so that a bunch of you go down to the beach, get together at either yours or your friends house, go to an event or watch your local team playing footie and/or perhaps get a part time job on a Saturday so that you can earn a bit of money to buy one of those “must haves”?

The bottom line is that you are kids, and kids don’t have the privileges that adults do. As adults we grew up knowing full well that various activities were out of bounds to us kids and we respected this fact and got on with it. The thought of actually getting caught when out of bounds was deterrent enough as the consequences were not worth thinking about! This is what has taught us adults to be accountable.

If this is how your conduct yourselves now and perceive it to be normal teenage behavior how are you going to view life when you reach adulthood? How are you going to get a job with such learned attitude and behavior, and earn respect in the work place; how are you going to raise your children to be responsible teenagers and how are you going to fit into society as a well adjusted adult?

Anyway, just my point of view …

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44

Bays of Jersians

As usual the police arrive when something has happened and do not prevent it beforehand just like the UK. There is just as much to do in Jersey as there is in the UK. I do not believe boredom is an excuse for such criminal behaviour, it just shows the mentality of these youths. Kids seem to be the same these days (obviously this is a generalisation and does not account for everyone), but a lot of their attitudes towards life seems to be influenced by their unruly UK counterparts. They conform to behaviour of peers and cannot think for themselves. As mentioned above in someone else’s post the phrases ‘can’t be bothered’ and ‘I’m bored’ are heard of all too often in this generation. I’m unsure of the schooling these days, but I wonder if teachers are unable to control a class of teenagers? If so, maybe they should start working on discipline at school first, then maybe they’ll learn some respect and desire to gain independence and actually want to achieve some meaning in life. Why do we follow the UK, with its ideas and policies, I believe we would be better off in many ways without their complacent input. Seeing how the UK is run and how ridiculously out of control the kids are concerning violence on the streets, why should Jersey government follow in their path. I have been aware that kids have been hanging around town during school hours, if they are allowed to do what they want, with no discipline, allowed to go wandering off, it is more likely they will disobey. Where are the guidelines these days?! Another point to mention, is that I don’t see why teenagers should be allowed freedom if they aren’t to act repsonsible. Their concern that adults can drink or do what they want should be irrelevant considering that most adults are going to come home without having caused trouble.

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46

Leah Holmes

#45 except the number of times that a beating has caused death! I’m sure the victims of those crimes would disagree, were they alive to do so. Beating someone (when the odds are clearly unequal might I add) can easily result in death so if you do it you should be prepared to be up on a manslaughter charge! If the person happens to be lucky enough to not die then attempted manslaughter frankly! Otherwise we have a free for all where people can beat each other up for little punishment.

O.M.G some people want to be proactive rather than reactive… what if the man that was beaten had died, would that make a difference? No, anyone who is beaten could die, that should be enough. I personally am not willing to wait till someone does die.

Pandora… brilliant!

#37 as has been pointed out before, these same kids do have money for alcohol, cigarettes and drugs!

#36, unfortunately the system does fail responsible mothers like yours, it shouldn’t. But I would imagine your brothers’ very serious problems put him in a minority. Some kids are just acting out for the heck of it.

#27 I highly doubt that. Bad kids come from many backgrounds but the two most likely backgrounds are not just a chavvy background but also a rich background. Some wealthy parents just pay their kids to get out the house and leave them in peace. They substitute money for love and turn their back when their kid commits crimes simply to get their attention (as some kids do)! Bad parents are just bad parents whether poor or rich.

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48

Leah Holmes

KDE – do you have an X-box, iPod, the latest mobile, TV in your bedroom, loads of DVDs etc. If so why instead of getting those didn’t you ask your parents for the money to use to enable you to go to the cinema, buy equipment allowing you to maybe record your own music (doesn’t cost much) something creative and something that you could still be using in 3 years time and still be doing new things with?

Have you tried art, music, sports… you might find you have a knack for them, they certainly keep you busy.

But I note that the kids on here just seem to want alcohol! That’s the deciding factor clearly, can we get drunk while doing that?

Many of the kids I have met in Jersey need to be exercising and studying… once they are no longer obese and once they are no longer stupid maybe then they can complain of having nothing to do!

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50

Sarah

Ches (19) i saw under 18′s outside liquid on friday night waiting to get in, pulling their tops down to show bouncers their boobs to get in, shouting at other kids, running around and shouting abuse to people outside KFC as well.

Stop the under 18′s nights and keep the kids in doors and in bed. Thats where they should be.

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52

Moi

The Law…isn’t that just called “attempted manslaughter” which one can be convicted for??

OMG….no-one is having a go at ALL teenagers. Just those which are a blight on society….perhaps reading the blogs first would help you differentiate.

Something simply has to be done to curb this anti-social behaviour and “having nothing to do” just does not wash…..that is no excuse!

The kids themselves should be punished for their actions, but unfortunately to some this will only add to their street cred….so parents must be held equally accountable and given assistance when it is needed (as in 36 Kirsty’s case) but not otherwise.

If persistent offenders are given something similar to a police record (but not as restrictive) then they may think twice if they know this can affect their future prospects in life!

My opinion, that’s all. If nothing is done I expect some less tolerant adults will give them what for and where do you think these “brave” youths will run….the police of course!!

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54

N

i wa called a racial name coming out of the gym, by these kids and when i confronted them they said i could get done for child abuse (considering there were 5 of them and 1 of me (female by the way), i do not see how this made sense.
I think we should name and shame the families are i think this arrogance stems from the parenting they receive, I am 25yrs and still know my boundaries with my parents.

I give it 1yr and the sudge of knife crime will be like London. The only thing is its going to be hard to stop this as were are a small Island.

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56

Leah Holmes

If we don’t do something now then we really can be accused of neglecting these kids and sentencing them to a life with little education, rubbish job prospects and most likely more serious crime.

Why do we assume that protecting children just means not hitting them, it is far more than that! It means ensuring they get an education, that they are capable of looking after themselves when they ‘grow up’. This isn’t happening. We brought them into the world, it is our duty to look after them fully and sometimes that will mean teaching them that there are consequences for bad behaviour, not prizes, or in the case of Jamie Bulger’s killers living for the rest of your life protected by a new identity and in part paid for by the taxpayer!

Kids should be at home (or at a friend’s home) of an evening. There is no reason for them to not be, unless they are taking part in an organised activity. Parents need to start spending actualy time with their kids and showing them that they are valued, rather than just throwing money at them.

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58

Leah Holmes

#57, that’s awesome! You’re very lucky you didn’t take a life. Any of the things you did could have caused someone to die. Plenty of us managed to grow up without having to resort to such stupid, immature behaviour.

And if you believe what you did is fine cause it’s just what kids do then please do not have children. It isn’t just ‘what kids do’ it is what kids that have parents that don’t actually give a hoot about them do. My parents loved me and therefore I was taught right from wrong.

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60

David

I think there are 2 distinct problems here

1.) Excess consumption of alcohol (by both teenagers and adults). The result is violence and no respect. More problems in town, and abusive individuals. We have it in every UK town on a Friday & Saturday night, you will not change this unless you limit alcohol sales.

2.) Poor parenting. These teenagers all have parents, it is the parents responsibility to monitor their childs behaviour.

At the end of the day parents are responsible for their kids, but we now live in a society where being a parent has become optional.

@kristy the 21 year old with a 16 year old brother driving your mum nuts. Where is your Dad? He should be disciplining your brother. If he’s not around your Mum should have disciplined him when he was younger, she’s now paying the price. Parents give young kids too much in terms of freedom and consumables and they become “bored” as they believe they never have to work for anything.

Nothing will change until
1.) Alcohol consumption as a society is moderated.
2.) There is more poverty so a need for people to work harder and greater appreciation for what they have.
3.) Greater parenting discipline and fewer single parent families.
4.) Ability to discipline children properly (i.e. physcial chastisement)without fear of some nabby pamby welfare agency stepping in.

You are in heaven over there in comparison to the UK, trust me. With more people losing their jobs the number of teenagers and people in their 20′s with nothing to do and no money is a nice recipe for disaster. Burgulary, violent crime, theft and anti-social behaviour are all soaring over here.
Add to that we in the UK are now a massively over-populated island without enough of a working population to support the level of social payments made to all these single parent families, asylum seekers, immigrants and lazy indigenous population who are on disability benefits because they’ve smoked themselves into an early grave.

End of rant….

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62

Kirsty

David – #60

You may call me Kirsty…not Kristy

I think your view is extremely unexceptable with regards to ‘no discipline at an early age’.
I doubt you know much about my family and our way of life just by reading my comments.

Children these days can be brought up in a well respectable home and then go off the rails when they realise the public cannot touch them and the law don’t do much more either!

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64

kaz

Boot camp for these teenagers would sort them out!instead of youth court & binding over orders which mean nothing to the offender, this is not punishment.These teenagers call themselves untouchables as they believe they rule & with no real punishment for offenders they are absolutely right!
If the parents have done all they can & are crying out for help from authorities then lets get them some help & set up a real boot camp
Maybe Youth action team or probation officers would like to comment on this

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66

Puzzled

Ultimately I think, all blame and allegations aside, the simple truth ought to be that if you break the law, by causing an affray, vandalising property, attacking people, being drunk and disorderly or similar, you should be punished in accordance WITH the law … so I think tougher sentences need to be brought to bear, so that confidence is restored in the eyes of the general public in the systems we have in place to protect us from criminal behaviour.

I have nothing against people having a good time – I have nothing against groups of youngsters congregating (although I appreciate that sometimes things can get a little out of hand and people can feel intimated even by the presence of a large group of youths … or adults for that matter) or having a laugh together … but when that behaviour transcends into the unlawful, then the police have an obligation to act, and to act decisively.

At the moment we have a situation where groups of people (and it’s NOT just youngsters – it’s ALL ages it seems) are creating havok in a number of places on the island, and the lack of decisive and efficient police response has started to justifiably shake the confidence of the public in the robustness of the system.

To those people that say that it’s all the parents’ fault, I would suggest with respect that no parent can be held responsible for ensuring the whereabouts of their child 24/7, 365 and that, whilst it is the parents’ responsibility to ensure their children behave, that isn’t always perhaps as simple in practise as it is in planning.

What about beefing up a youth offender’s register or similar ? I’m really not that up to speed with WHAT punishments are leviable against minors that are caught breaking the law, but surely more than a rap on the knuckles could be brought-in, WITHOUT being seen to be draconian ? Ultimately if underage criminals know that they won’t be SERIOUSLY punished – just given a chiding, then where is the incentive for them to stop ??

Obviously if you’re of majority or older, and you get caught breaking the law by, say, assaulting somebody, then the full police and courts system operates to deal with you … but even THEN sometimes the sentences are just farcical.

The system needs a review, and the police PRESENCE in St. Helier particularly on Friday and Saturday nights, needs to be ramped-up, and the police NEED to be far more proactive about responding to, and dealing with, these offenders, regardless of their age.

That’s my two-penneth anyway.

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68

Jordan

Being a teenager myself it’s quite weird that actually for the majority I side with you adults. I too am disgusted with the kids on rampage in town at the weekend. If I can still go out, have a good time with alcohol I might add, but keep out of trouble then why can’t they?

But what really does annoy me more than anything is the people commenting on this page saying that the adults have nothing to do with it. I, plenty of times have seen adults intoxicated in far worse conditions then kids. What type of an example is honestly being set here. Kids are the problem, we are going to penalize them, but let adults do the same and get away with it purely cause of age.

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70

Rozel Aubin

Did anyone see the report in today’s Telegraph about the pink street lights that accentuate pimples causing the little cherubs to slink home in embarassment?

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72

Nioleux

Thanks (I think) for the lesson on Manx law Moi. Interesting and complicated. I would wager that few Manxmen have been convicted of that.

How relevant it would be to Jersey law is another matter but I guess this is the wrong subject forum for that argument.

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74

Leah Holmes

I did Rozel. Unfortunately that part of ‘growing up’ is coming later and later to society. The streets could be deserted

Kirsty, you are right. Thankfully situations like that with your brother are probably the exceptions but they do occur and your family really should be getting a great amount of support given your clear attempts to get it sorted. Even if you were named, going by your actions you certainly would not be shamed, people would applaud your mother’s actions. I don’t know if your mum could kick your brother out of the house permanently? If she did the police would have to treat him as they would any other adult. It’s a tough decision but sometimes it really does work.

Jordan #68, I’m so with you. I had similar issues growing up due to other teenager’s behaviour. Part of the problem is that shops, cafes etc can share photos, names, age and some basic criminal information on adult shoplifters, but not on child shoplifters. With adults they know who to look out for and just use general vigilance otherwise, with kids they have no idea. Surely committing a crime should lose you some of your ‘human rights’ (severity according to severity of the crime of course). After all, you aren’t caring about anyone else’s human rights, why should they care about yours.

The statistics making it more likely you’ll have a problem if you are from a single-parent family are based on the fact that a one-income family is more likely to be nearer the breadline, it is NOT about parenting ability rather a possible lack of time and possible poverty. Such studies between one and two-parent families should only be carried out where all other circumstances are equal, that’s basic to any training in statistics.

A single-parent is not necessarily worse just because they are a single-parent. I do think society should encourage the situation of children having the benefit of both male and female parenthood/guardianship (it’s how nature made us after all) but we shouldn’t use that to judge single-parent families either. Plenty of single-parents don’t start out as single-parents, things happen, life changes. There but for the grace of God go any of us.

Some of the bad kids in Jersey are from two-parent and very wealthy families. Some families, poor or rich, single or dual, show their children how loved and valued they are, others don’t! Some raise their kids to learn how to stand on their own two feet and provide for themselves, others don’t!

Bad parents are just that, bad parents!

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76

Leah Holmes

#71, that’s really interesting and aspects of it are very sensible. I hope that this doesn’t absolve the law of their responsibility though, for instance the way our legal system seems to be letting down Kirsty’s family?

In fairness, I think most responsible parents consider themselves somewhat responsible for their children till the day they themselves die. I know my Gran looked out for my mum and uncles until she died at 88, and I know that my parents look out for and guide me if they feel I need help. Even though they raised me to be able to handle all sorts of things, some things you can only learn with experience. And I don’t mean they interfere, but if my siblings or I need them we will be their priority at that time. Likewise we have, and will, drop everything if they need us.

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78

Tommy

3) AD

You don’t know you are alive. I have been living outside of Jersey for the last 10 years in places where, literally, there is nothing to do. Jersey has loads to do! You have a beach that surrounds you, a skate park, world class sporting facilities. Its time that the “there is nothing to do” excuse is dropped.

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80

John Coulson

Moi “There is no poverty.”

There is poverty in Jersey and what you meant to say was there is no poverty encroaching where you live.

lets look at the social housing in the less affluent sectors of Jersey?

What they don’t exist??? HaHaHa there is one born every minute…

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82

Chris Patch

An autre crapaud living in France. We left Jersey over 8 years ago and one reason was because of the trouble we had with youths (and girls) in the area of First Tower. We had had eggs thrown at our house 3 or 4 times a week for over 4 years, and not just at hallow’een. It started because 30 kids attacked us in St. Andrews Park and when the police were called, unfortunately by one of the girls with my agreement, the police took their side and told us we were at fault and made us go to the police station. I had had my glasses broken by being pushed around but that didn’t count. After that the kids thought they had a green light for making trouble. We called the paid police out on every occasion but of course got nowhere. We found that most of the police were completely unhelpful and nothing was kept on record of a visit to our house so every night they were called (Christmas included) they had to ask our names and names of parents even and ‘can you explain the problem’. As I have read previously, in comments, as they have no respect for us there is no respect for the paid police any longer. After 4 years it was enough and with everything else in Jersey changing for the worst, and that definitely includes the policitians of that time, it was decided to move and live in a more peaceful environment and where the youngsters still have great respect for other people, not just their elders but everybody in general. Both of us were brought up in Jersey and still feel that Jersey has a lot to offer in the way of fresh air, plenty of beaches, cliff walks etc which surely is much better for the kids than hanging around the town making trouble. We do agree that Fort Regent should be made available again for sport and entertainment. The Fort was a good place to go, swimming, squash and numerous other activities and very easy to get to as it was in the town. Down to you parents – make sure you know where your children are and what they are doing and make sure you spend time with them teaching them how to behave in public.

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84

Leah Homes

Let’s personally attack people just because we disagree with them, how mature, we should be so proud at having been raised so well! Or not. I’d be ashamed of myself frankly.

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86

Leah Homes

Actually #79 do you get paid for some of your time spent on here? Does it assist your work? Do you access this site from about 5 different computers in different countries?

What is your excuse for not ‘getting out more’?

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88

Big Bean

Poverty is the shortage of basic things such as food, clothing, shelter, all of which determine our quality of life. It may also include the lack of access to opportunities such as education and employment which aid the escape from poverty and/or allow one to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens.

I can assure you that Poverty exists in Jersey.

Obviously not to the degree that we see in third world countries, and having experienced at first hand the fammines in Ethiopia and Sudan and having travelled extensively in countries such as India, Burma & China to name just a few, I think I might know a thing or 2 on the subject!

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90

Big Bean

Moi. There are different definitions of poverty. And to be fair different degrees of poverty. At the lower end of the scale, I know of families who would fall into this category.

However, you are right, we are digressing. We may not agree regarding the poverty arguement, but I agree with your last paragraph.

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92

Lorna Hamilton

No 79, not if they pick their friends well they don’t. I loved hanging out with my mates, we could do this just as easily in a house as outside! My mates were a great laugh, we still have a great laugh today and we don’t have to get drunk to do it, although on occasion we have been mistaken for being high cause we couldn’t stop laughing.

It’s really sad that people have such boring friends that they can’t have fun without causing trouble or, in later life, can only bother being around them if totally drunk, maybe they should pick their friends more carefully?

Everyone, even these troublesome kids, has an interest or talent they can get really enthusiastic about, it just takes a bit of work to find it. Worth it though.

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94

SKE

its not always the teenagers to blame, there are younger children from ages of 6 and upwards! You cant blame the parents either, its not like they want us to go out and start fights.. not that we do anyway! you walk through town at 11pm and there are drunk men and women mouthing off towards us teenagers, we try not to react however this hard to do as the adults wind up up continuasly.. We Are greatful for all we have, but we dont appreciate the foul language and threats we get off older people! Maybe there will be peace and quiet from us, if we get it from you. show us respect and we will respect you back!!!

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96

Ellie

Just give us a break! we’re at school 5 out of 7 days a week. 6 hours a day. The only break we get is saturday and sunday! And it’s not all of us, the majority of us just like to go out have a good time, so start looking at the ones who start fights.

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98

Bovvered

take the fun and games out of la moye then drop the age of entry to about 12,

Then we’ll see how ‘cool’ this behaviour is when they are forced to spend a week or 2 behind bars with proper criminals.. show them what they will become… if they cry.. it’s working

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100

Lula

to those lovely teenagers who say it isn’t their fault – would you be in support of bringing back the cane or birch to punish children in school if they are misbehaving? If you never cause trouble there wouldn’t be a problem and when I was in school I got really annoyed with the stupid kids in my class being disruptive – it meant I didn’t learn what I needed too and more often than not had to take more time trying to understand my work after class because the teachers were too busy trying to get some kids under control.

If an adult is drunk and disorderly they get arrested, have a fine to pay and sometimes even a cerfu, if a teenager is drunk and disordely they get a free lift home with no repercussions… that is the issue here. If you want to be treated like adults then you should expect to get punished like adults too.

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102

james

True stop under 18s nights,
What an example we put to the kids growing up in a society of drinkers, letting them go to nightclubs as a form of fun isnt what we should be teaching in this day and age.

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104

Leah Homes

Oh, and when you get older and have to pay home, business and car insurance… if you find yourself complaining about why it’s so high then the kids in this article (and maybe even you) are the reason!

What you do is costing each and every adult, including your parents. And one day you will realise that money does not just magic itself out of the air.

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106

Moi

Ellie 96…not everyone is attacking the majority of well behaved and mature teenagers (although, unfortunately some are being tarred with the same brush). Most are just saying punish those who act anti-socially and commit crimes – end of.

Also, I didn’t quite understand your point about school times. Consider that most adults tend to work 5 or 6 days a week with a minimum of 35 hours so you can count yourselves lucky you have so much spare time (don’t get me into school holidays either:-) ).

Maybe the actual problem with society is that too many people are interfering and trying to find the root cause to everyones problem. Sure, in some cases people have had such horrendous lives that they know no better (and they should be helped and these situations prevented), but not everybody who commits a crime has had an equally horrendous upbringing.

In my opinion, most people (adults & children) know right from wrong and can make their own decisions based on this, therefore, when it is a criminal decision they make then they should be punished accordingly – NO EXCUSE!

Everyday you see murderers and rapists getting away with their crimes; hate preachers aloud to spout their bile; mindless crimes of violence and in a lot of cases the victim can actually (ridiculously) be punished for defending themselves against an attacker…..where is the justice in that!

Common sense should prevail instead of offering the scurge of society a little pat on the back and a “there, there…poor old you….it’s not your fault…. it’s ours” excuse for their own behaviour!

Do-gooders, PC brigade and the human rights legislation are as much to blame as the criminals themselves. Once you commit a crime your human rights should be severely restricted. The majority of the law-abiding citizens who just wish to go about their lives should be protected at all costs from this scum!

I’ve slightly digressed, but the principle in my opinion still applies to this blog.

This should apply to anyone and everyone, adults, teenagers and kids alike.

The people have had enough!

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108

Big Bean

Using ones imagination is not expensive. Neither is investing time to spend with your children.

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110

Nioleux

KDE #95 – It seems to me that you should spend a little more time studying. You may improve your level of written English which might enable you, in the long run, to get a better job.

A better job will give you more money to spend on going out and enjoying yourself when you are older.

I also have to agree with Leah, what on earth are you guys doing to cause a neighbour to call the police when you are at freinds house?

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112

Ellie

Right Lula.
I do also have a part time job, we have two breaks not 3 and I pay rent at home so dont start with bills and work. Why can’t you just get on with your lives and we’ll get on with ours. Fair enough ‘Moi’ but it means we can’t go out and have a good time if you’re not tackling the crime kids.
And Leah, I am an adult, 16, and yeah I am loving life Quit your job then if your so bothered about the hours and holidays.
SKE and KDE I highly agree with you.

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114

KDE

Leah 103!
You dont understand what im trying to say about homes!
Some people don’t have homes to actually go to!
And why are you blaming our parents. how the hell is it their fault?!
And its not all the teenagers, i mean the people i go out with, we never cause arguments ect. and then there is eveyone else trying to stop teenagers going out! but why should all of us get punished when its not actually everyone.!
And we aint stupid you no! we no money doesnt jus magic its self outta the air!

And yeh i really do agree with Ellie, and SKE!

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116

LillianD

Right to be honest : KDE , SKE and Ellie you do not know what you are talking about!! I am an adult with 2 kids aged: 8 and aged:10 they will no way!! be hanging around the streets when they are teenagers , you are the ones causing all these fights etc! ok not just you three but the majority of teenagers. This proves your not to bothered about your education because if your at school why are you on this? I am speaking sense trust me i am an adult and i know.

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118

Lula

Ellie – no offense but a part time job just brings your hours up from a 25 hour week to a 35 hour week… and you still get more holidays than us adults do! And do your bills take over 75% of your wages?

This is all beside the point of course – the point we are trying desperately to make is that if kids break the law they get punished the same as adults do meaning vandals get a fine and community service, assault gets a custody sentance. If they hit a teacher in class they get birched in front of the entire school. I’m sure a responsible teengaer such as yourself can see the benefits of punishment to deter bad behaviour.

Finally – at 16-17 I was getting drunk in clubs – I didn’t cause any trouble, however i was also living on my own in my own rented flat paying my own bills working 42 hours a week (as I finished my A levels and GCSEs early). There are mature responsible teenagers out there – mainly the ones that have respect for others around them, but punishment begins with the police, teachers and parents and more should be done to deter antisocial behaviour in children (namely bringing back punishment in school)

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120

Nioleux

KDE, if you are so concerned about adults generalising about teenagers why are you generalising about adults?

Quote:
“eveyone else trying to stop teenagers going out!”

Furthermore, please refer to the first two paragraphs of my comment #110 and then read the below quote from you.

“And we aint stupid you no! we no money doesnt jus magic its self outta the air!”

Perhaps you should try staying in more often?

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122

Leah Homes

JLR, the difference is that adults can be punished with the full force of the law, kids can’t! A crime should be punished the same way regardless of the age of the perpetrator.

Ellie, that’s great that you’ve got a job, I know some others that do also. But for you and KDE, if you’re not causing trouble then my comments are not about you, they are in relation to kids in THIS article.

Also, I love my job and my study, doesn’t mean they’re not long hours. I simply pointed out how much harder you’ll have to work in the future. Never mind that I made huge financial and life sacrifices to get into a position where I’m doing what I love. It’s worth realising that plenty of adults ARE stuck in jobs they hate (providing for their children), possibly even your own parents, and it could happen to you. If only adult life was as simple as ‘quit your job’!

I’m lucky, plenty of adults aren’t.

There are kids in Jersey showing that there are things to do. They don’t all have money. There are kids who achieve in sports, art, music… You all have a talent or ability that you could be using, surely it’s worth exploring what it is? And you won’t find it hanging about streets or playing computer games, there are things that you might find far more fun than that but you have to give them a go to find out.

We all know there are adults that are just as bad, clearly even SKE and KDE can see it so why copy these adults? Why retaliate (as someone mentioned)? Why not be better than them? I ignore them, I don’t retaliate, and if I see them damaging property or harming a person I call the Police. There will be such hideous people when you are adults, learn to ignore them now.

KDE, as for not having homes to go to, I will reiterate… where do you sleep? And why are Police being called? And how is it not your parents’ fault? Are your friends welcome in their home? Do they sacrifice some of their own luxuries to help pay for things for you to do?

KDE, tell us who is to blame? It can’t be us on here, we’re not responsible for you. We have no right to discipline you.

Also, can you tell us exactly what it is you want to do? I’m honestly interested in that.

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124

Carl Williamson

Okay then well don’t put it all on me and KDE.
Thing is, it’s not gonna change, kids are still gonna carry on drinking, but do something to stop the fights.

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126

Leah Homes

KDE, you’re not going to answer my questions I guess, you probably don’t have an answer!

We’ll do what you ask then, if I walk through a car park and see you getting beaten up I’ll just ‘ignore it’, I won’t call the Police and I won’t be a witness in court. Likewise if I see your house or car being vandalised, or even trashed, I’ll just walk right on by.

That should make you happy

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