| Author | Message | ||
     ajc Citizen Username: Ajc Post Number: 2216 Registered: 9-2001 |
Joan... where are you Joan? I'm sure I would be much to heavy handed to comment on this subject. This topic is really just begging for a mother’s soft personal touch.  | ||
| Kenney Citizen Username: Kenney Post Number: 101 Registered: 11-2003 |
Let's start a parent gang and go around for a couple weeks kicking some teenage butt!!!! to all my thoughts, add to the end: or not. | ||
| mem aka "toots" Citizen Username: Mem Post Number: 2324 Registered: 5-2001  |
I have to admit many, many of us smoked (lots of) pot when I was at CHS. But I didn't inhale one bit  . So, the last thing any of us wanted was to call attention to ourselves. We were scared sh*tless of the cops, but not as afraid of them as we were of our parents. As a result, we were extremely peaceful, if any of us possibly strayed into the street it was because we maybe smoked too much, or there was that time we had a "sit in" on Parker Ave. to protest nukes. That was our "fad". Times sure have changed. | ||
| buzzsaw Citizen Username: Buzzsaw Post Number: 1123 Registered: 5-2001  |
I just saw a kid with a t-shirt that said "happiness is a warm gun" and the other side said "thugg life". When John Lennon wrote that song, I wonder what he had in mind? There is. | ||
| Tom Reingold the prissy-pants Citizen Username: Noglider Post Number: 1180 Registered: 1-2003  |
Is anyone saying that no kids should be unsupervised, in the library or on the street? I'd say the problem is with kids who misbehave, not all of them. Just what rules would you enact? My sixth grader goes to the library after school. This is her choice, not my rule. She calls me each afternoon to get my permission. My ninth grader "cruises" Maplewood Avenue on Friday nights with good weather, as so many high schoolers do. I hope no one opposes these peaceful, orderly and legal activities. Tom Reingold There is nothing | ||
| Nohero Citizen Username: Nohero Post Number: 2481 Registered: 10-1999  |
All good points, Mr. Reingold. | ||
| Cynicalgirl Citizen Username: Cynicalgirl Post Number: 190 Registered: 9-2003  |
I honestly don't know what rules to put forth, or what even exist. But there has to be some understanding, some means to differentiate kids going to the library and doing school work in an appropriate fashion, from ungoverned, disruptive behavior. And on the street, some way to differentiate decently behaved kids cruising Maplewood stores, the movies, etc. from loud unruly throngs. Meaning, if the adult community has some sense of the acceptable and the un-, why doesn't it and why can't the police enforce it? And why aren't they backed up enough that should the parent/s get a call to pick up their kid, the parents do so and side with the other adult? If what you're saying, Tom, is that we can't deal with the extreme without punishing the innocent, well then the whole situation is lost. I was mad last night when I wrote that note, mad that I was so damned scared and made to be scared. Maybe it's because I'm female, and had a kid in tow. Some of the posters here who were in the zone of seeing that I had a point also appear to be female. Are we wrong to be scared of this crappy behavior? How much candy-coating is one supposed to swallow? With respect to the game, there should be sponsors or sponsor-related parents supervising that mess if routinely turns out as it did last night. And the librarians should be able to bounce out the kids who are disruptive. And the storeowners should be able to shoo the kids away if there's so many hanging out front as to disrupt their business. And the kids ought to feel a little more concerned about repercussions from bad behavior. I blame the parents. Just go hang in front of the library at night the next time there's a game at MMS. Make your own decision. Or go to the library after school and talk to the librarians. | ||
| Tom Reingold the prissy-pants Citizen Username: Noglider Post Number: 1181 Registered: 1-2003 |
That's a whole lot of words to put in my mouth. I'm not saying anything about your reason to be scared, nor am I saying anything about your anger. I saw suggestions about new rules and criticism of the fact that some kids are at the library after school. I object to those. I have no objection to more enforcement of existing rules about orderly behavior. I see no need for more rules. I agree with everything you say except the suggestion that there should be more rules. I hope you understand where agree with you. Tom Reingold There is nothing | ||
| tjohn Citizen Username: Tjohn Post Number: 1913 Registered: 12-2001  |
The teenager of any species, especially Homo sapiens, should never be without adult supervision. The closer the supervision, the better the final product. see The Lord of the Flies for more information. As an interesting aside, in one of the African National Parks, young bull elephants were being released to restart elephant herds. Around that time, rangers were finding other animals gored by elephants - very unusual behavior. Long story short, these young bulls (i.e. teenagers) were misbehaving without mature old bulls to keep them in line. | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 3927 Registered: 5-2001 |
I wasn't there so I really don't know what was going on. However, when our kids were that age they regularly attended basketball games at the gym and by the spring of their eighth grade year were allowed to go to the village on weekend evenings with their friends. When I first read Cynicalgirls post, my reaction was, well at least they weren't fighting. Do I expect to little? | ||
| lumpyhead Citizen Username: Lumpyhead Post Number: 535 Registered: 3-2002 |
The Lord of the Flies is a good analogy. Many unsupervised kids can lead to unacceptable behavior without boundaries. Are African American children in Maplewood more likely to be unsupervised than their white counterparts? Is this loud and constant cursing now acceptable at MMS as it is a CHS? | ||
| Kenney Citizen Username: Kenney Post Number: 103 Registered: 11-2003 |
When Clinton was President, we didn't have these problems. to all my thoughts, add to the end: or not. | ||
| Montagnard Citizen Username: Montagnard Post Number: 279 Registered: 6-2003 |
There's a great Robin Williams line towards the end of Good Morning Vietnam that would apply perfectly to the previous post. | ||
| ashear Citizen Username: Ashear Post Number: 808 Registered: 5-2001 |
Maybe I was just a bad kid but the behavior described at the top of this thread - hanging out, being loud, traveling in "packs" sounds a lot like what I did as a teenager in NYC. We were also known to sit on a car or two. What was frightening about this? There is no indication anything threatening was done or even said and it seems that the kids were on the other side of the street. What am I missing? | ||
| Tom Reingold the prissy-pants Citizen Username: Noglider Post Number: 1182 Registered: 1-2003 |
I agree that organized events, with large numbers of kids present, require organized supervision. I don't agree that they can't be unsupervised alone or in small groups. They have to grow up. That's a process of giving them increasing freedoms. We can't expect to be grown-ups suddenly on their 18th anniversaries of their births. Tom Reingold There is nothing | ||
| Tom Reingold the prissy-pants Citizen Username: Noglider Post Number: 1183 Registered: 1-2003 |
I also sat on cars, but I don't agree that it's acceptable. No one should sit on someone else's car. Whoever told me to get off and stay off was right. Tom Reingold There is nothing | ||
| sportsnut Citizen Username: Sportsnut Post Number: 750 Registered: 10-2001 |
Tom I was just about to make that same point. Its all about respect for other people's things. If I ever parked my car in the village and came out to someone sitting on the hood I would not be very respectful in asking them to get off of the hood. And I would make sure that no scratches or dents occurred. Leaning against the car is one thing, but sitting on it connotes a feeling of disrespect. | ||
| lumpyhead Citizen Username: Lumpyhead Post Number: 538 Registered: 3-2002 |
Ashear- This ain't NYC. People live here so that punk kids roaming the streets wouldn't be screaming the F word in front of their 5 year olds. Your expectations are low. | ||
| Kenney Citizen Username: Kenney Post Number: 104 Registered: 11-2003 |
well, monte, if it's the quote I'm thinking of, you are right and thanks for the offer--but i will pass. to all my thoughts, add to the end: or not. | ||
| ashear Citizen Username: Ashear Post Number: 809 Registered: 5-2001 |
Where does it say they were screaming curses? Did I miss that? I just saw that they were being loud. Loud kids. Wow. |
