Feral kids.

winterwhite

I think we are seeing some chickens coming home to roost, namely the result of the neglectful treatment of children and schools during the worst Covid years.
Schools closed for months, and children without access to home computers falling behind and becoming fed up and disillusioned. Children stuck indoors and unable to socialise just when they needed to for their social development.
Teachers undervalued, more and more responsibilities heaped on schools with no additional funding. School buildings crumbling.
Lack of post-16 opportunities and scarcity of jobs for school leavers leading to lack of self worth.
What else do we expect?

Haven't heard this one for a while. Which schools were closed for months?
Teachers were in school working
• with children of key workers (and those from other families with specific needs eg vulnerable children)
• they were providing lessons on Zoom (told on the Friday that they'd need Zoom lessons for Monday - with no training whatsoever)
• they were posting paper resources, and trying to organise computers for those pupils without laptops/tablets/smart phones
• some schools had staff delivering lesson resources to homes
• some schools even had staff delivering food to FSM kids to homes

A few years later, its remembered as schools were shut for months

If/when the youngsters are arrested, is it the case that their phones may be taken from them?
If so, their social histories may be examined.
Experts could trace back the origins of the 'mob riot' prompt.
Legislation could be introduced to make 'incitement' a crime.
That would help.

Magenta8

I read a report from the Brighton Evening Argus recently about large numbers of rival gangs of young men arriving at the town on a bank holiday and damaging shops and smashing deck chairs.

The report was from the archives and referred to mods and rockers it was dated 1964. The young men involved would now be in their late seventies or in their eighties.

See my post Wednesday at 17:24.

I read a report from the Brighton Evening Argus recently about large numbers of rival gangs of young men arriving at the town on a bank holiday and damaging shops and smashing deck chairs.

The report was from the archives and referred to mods and rockers it was dated 1964. The young men involved would now be in their late seventies or in their eighties.

Allira. Years ago we wouldn't have thought that was possible. Of course today it is.

Tik Tok is owned by a Chinese technology company.
Are they inciting civil unrest?

Sorry. Throwing the chairs around

Yesterday in my Essex town there was a smaller scale version of this. About 20 teenagers nearly all wearing black hoods and balaclavas stormed into the local Macdonalds and started swearing, shouting and the chairs around. DH was in the shop next door and called the police. They arrived in less than 5 minutes. It’s thought that the kids had come by train and ran back to the station but the police intended to follow them.

Just last week there were two instances in the same place, outside a bus station where one man walking past some teenagers was attacked in broad daylight, had to be taken to hospital, police are treating it as attempted murder, next day same place a man got off a bus. was attacked by teenagers,
It makes you scared to go out.

RosiesMawagain

JPB123

I went to a local supermarket today,thankfully it was only for a few bits.There were children running round,screaming, shouting at parents ,toddlers crying.The lady on the check out said ,it’s hell when it’s school holidays…..

I’m afraid that sounds pretty normal - toddlers do tend to cry, small children do like running around.
But this sort of behaviour reflects inadequate parenting at source doesn’t it?
That said I remember D1 having a major meltdown aged 2 in the middle of Sainsbury’s. Oh the shame!

What we are reading in the papers is a wholly different thing.

A toddler was having a meltdown in Tesco this morning. He was really loud and I knew just how he felt because I felt like having a meltdown too.

And oh, the shame too, when my two younger DC decided to disappear and have a game of tick in Woolworths once, when I was paying at the till.

That was before mobile phones.

What happened in the 70s here was that a lot of inner city areas were redeveloped and families relocated itoquiet country towns.New estates became the breeding ground for some of this uncivilised behaviour.It was very obvious when I was a sub teacher and and saw the breakdown of discipline in previously lovely schools often caused by these blow ins.

JPB123

I went to a local supermarket today,thankfully it was only for a few bits.There were children running round,screaming, shouting at parents ,toddlers crying.The lady on the check out said ,it’s hell when it’s school holidays…..

I’m afraid that sounds pretty normal - toddlers do tend to cry, small children do like running around.
But this sort of behaviour reflects inadequate parenting at source doesn’t it?
That said I remember D1 having a major meltdown aged 2 in the middle of Sainsbury’s. Oh the shame!

What we are reading in the papers is a wholly different thing.

I have just been reading what the MS CEO is saying this morning about shoplifting and abuse and violence towards his staff especially after the organised gathering of children and teenagers in Clapham. He is calling for additional police resources of course and that this increasing problem be reviewed by all disciplines.
I feel quite vulnerablr now which I have never felt before. I am glad we dont have a gun culture as Joe Public would be arming himself, but I have no means of defending myself shoulf I ever need to.

Rolling pin in my shopping trolley? Can of baked beans in a sock? Of course I would end up in court and the miscreants get off. It's all very dispiriting. Many people of my age must feel quite scared and I expect some have been living with this fear for many years.

What is the answer? Dont go down the caning route for goodness sake. That doesnt solve anything and never has. Fine the parents for a start if the offende is a child/teenager. And better store security linked with increased local police recources for the organised shop lifting. With follow ip convictions. Really heavy fines as the prisons are overcrowded.

David49

The current policy with problem families is to move them into one areas or street so they can annoy each other and the police know where to look if there are problems. Those that can afford it move away from those areas to nicer trouble free areas.
So the poorest unstable families are left to rot in ghettos instead of helping them improve, because it's easier and cheaper

It's wrong to label all the members of a family "problem".

I met one such young man from a " problem" family, and he was only a problem for some people because he was a lower class tearaway. if he had been a member of the local upper classes he would have been accepted.

The recent fine given to Zuckerberg is the first serious attempt to 'control' the effects of social media.
More needs to be done, and soon.

Oh yes the Bullingdon Club. It's okay for posh boys to vandalise?

The current policy with problem families is to move them into one areas or street so they can annoy each other and the police know where to look if there are problems. Those that can afford it move away from those areas to nicer trouble free areas.
So the poorest unstable families are left to rot in ghettos instead of helping them improve, because it's easier and cheaper

henetha

I have seen, over my lifetime, the erosion of all the old punishments and controls that kept children civilised.
No-one wants a return to children being caned, etc, but we do need to be a whole lot firmer with them, starting from when they are very young. At home and at school.
It's also the closing down of amenities, youth clubs etc for teenagers to keep them off the streets; the dreadful lack of mental health facilities; and the influence of social media.
Not just on children. So many times I have seen mums in cafes or parks completely lost in their phone while their children are causing havoc.

Spot on, Henetha.

Was it Boris Johnson who suggested having water cannon for just this sort of situation?
In short, they are doing it because they can. We have bred a generation of savages. If they behave like wild animals, treat them accordingly. Round them up and put them in a secure enclosure. Make the parents pay to have them released

What a grotesque view of the world. You may have bred savages - I have not, nor have my family, neighbours and friends.
As for Boris Johnson - he was a roving hooligan, vandal and thug. Have you forgotten his destructive behaviour with his wealthy privileged friends in the Bullingdon Club?

winterwhite

I think we are seeing some chickens coming home to roost, namely the result of the neglectful treatment of children and schools during the worst Covid years.
Schools closed for months, and children without access to home computers falling behind and becoming fed up and disillusioned. Children stuck indoors and unable to socialise just when they needed to for their social development.
Teachers undervalued, more and more responsibilities heaped on schools with no additional funding. School buildings crumbling.
Lack of post-16 opportunities and scarcity of jobs for school leavers leading to lack of self worth.
What else do we expect?

Absolutely this!

and more details;
Key Details of the Incidents:
Arrests: Six teenage girls (ranging in age, including 13, 15, and 16) were arrested for offenses such as theft, shoplifting, and assault.
Impact on Stores: Shops on Clapham High Street were forced to close, with some staff forced to lock shoppers inside for safety.
The Trend: These gatherings, described by locals as "intimidating," involved hundreds of youths.
Police Response: The Metropolitan Police deployed significant resources, including using CCTV and body-worn cameras to identify further suspects, warning that more arrests would be made.
Location: The chaos was centered around Clapham High Street, particularly targeting the M&S food hall.
BBC
BBC
+4

Yes, six teenage girls were arrested following chaotic, large-scale gatherings of young people on Clapham High Street in South London, which targeted shops including Marks & Spencer. Groups organised via social media to cause anti-social behaviour, including looting, assaulting staff, and throwing fireworks on March 28th and 31st, 2026, prompting police to issue a 48-hour dispersal order.
BBC
BBC
+4
Key Details of the Incidents:

for those who don't believe these things are happening

Good comment TerriBull
It’s TikTok trends that drive this kind of thing and a lot of young teens find it exciting/exhilarating to be part of a crowd doing anarchic and low level criminal stuff.I don’t blame parents or any government cuts past or present.It’s the rise of SM a new phenomenon and hasn’t been seen before.The police need new powers (maybe/ maybe not) but they need to stamp on it heavily when it crops up.
Small businesses already suffer from the most aggressive and blatant shoplifting and the police rarely do anything about it, as a crime it’s out of control and has been for quite a while.

I went to a local supermarket today,thankfully it was only for a few bits.There were children running round,screaming, shouting at parents ,toddlers crying.The lady on the check out said ,it’s hell when it’s school holidays…..

kircubbin2000

Even the football is not cheap with the kit and travel expenses.We are lucky as the doe teachers are very involved and go camping etc.

Everything costs!
Soccer skills were popular here, not expensive but possibly out of reach of some, swimming lessons run at the local Leisure Centre but still had to be paid for etc.

If junior football clubs can get a local sponsor, they will provide the kit as long as their name is displayed on the shirts.