Teenagers in Shetland

[peeriewife]

I was as mad as hell today. Idiots running around the street spraying deodorant in each others faces. At one point they were hiding round corners to jump on their friend. My wee boy just missed getting it in his face.

 

It is quite intimidating to walk along the street wi kids now because of the 'gangs' (which aparently do not pose a problem).

 

In the last few weeks when i have been out with my kids i have had abuse because i POLITLY asked some young boys and lasses to move so i could get past, been hit by a football outside swansons and had to duck and dive to avoid being hit by the rubbish they throw at each other.

 

I have noticed as well over the last wee while that we now appear to have the goths and the neds.

 

Shetland really is the same as everywhere else.

[peeriesooky]

and da fact dat ders still no a real, if ony, police presence at all wen der is ony trouble goin an. massive events aa weekend wi da johnsmas foy an u still dinna really see dem aboot ony whar. and if a group o 12 kids hanging aroond being awkward at best, if noo oot an oot agressive, isna a "gang" den whit da funk is?

[NewMagnie]

Deoderant? impoliteness? awkwardness?

 

Reggie Kray, eat your heart out...

[peeriewife]

The point i am trying to make is that the street is becoming a playground for kids who can not behave. I'm no sayin it is as bad as the krays etc but it is getting nasty. I want to be able to walk down the street with out having to worry about etting deo. sprayed in my face etc. There needs to be a better police presence.

[Tomblands]

Did you actually try contacting the police? You can't really expect them to be there if no one tells them whats going on.

[JustMe]

Are kids on the street a "gang" or are they just a group of people who are friends. And even if they are a "gang" who is going to say that they have less rights to be on the street than the rest of us.

 

What is really needed is an old fashioned copper who could give the ringleader of any group getting out of hand a clip round the ear. Sadly that is no longer possible but a visible police presence on the street might help reassure the rest of the public (and perhaps catch some of the people driving on the street when they should not be there).

 

Another thought about this........a lot of the things that are sprayed, used to make bangs and to make a stink are sold only in a limited number of shops. Perhaps some sort of agreement not to sell them any more might work. Thinking of persuasion by the Town Centre Association rather than anything official.......although if one shop persisted in selling such things, especially to kids, there might be some sort of law that could either stop them or make them liable for cleaning up the mess.

[peeriesooky]

surely, if dey are a "gang", which imho a group of a dozen or so kids hangin aroond wi a disregard tae ithers aroond dem is, then aye, du cud say for the sake o being pc and aa dat rubbish dat dey have "equal rights tae be dere". but dis der rites mean more than thae ithers dat whant tae be able tae go aboot der business wioot haeing tae second guess whit da morons in front o them are ganna dae? dey may hae a "basic human rite" tae be der, but dey also have a duty tae hae consideration fir ithers aroond dem. dey don't own da street, but da way dey act, show contempt and disregard fir ithers, bash intae folk, dinna move fir folk, tak up aa da space available causing folk (even oap's) tae hae tae waak idda road u'd tink dey did. Da street, being a public area is nae a place fir louts tae be spraying aerosols in folks faces, tae be playing fitba, running around lik lunatics or fighting, which has happened on mair as wan occasion. der shuld be a mair visible police presence idda street, but der niver will be. ders no a big enuff force in shetland. i mind haeing tae phone da polis wance fir a violent fight gan oan outside me hoose, on a friday nite (shurly a nite dey'd expect trouble) only tae be told dat da only 2 officers on duty wir oot da westside. der is a gang problem emerging in shetland, and summat, whitever it is, has tae be done to counteract dis afore it becomes a major problem.

I wis der age wance, and i didna feel da need tae act da way dey are nooadays, and i was no angel either

[Njugle]

Another thought about this........a lot of the things that are sprayed, used to make bangs and to make a stink are sold only in a limited number of shops. Perhaps some sort of agreement not to sell them any more might work. Thinking of persuasion by the Town Centre Association rather than anything official.......although if one shop persisted in selling such things, especially to kids, there might be some sort of law that could either stop them or make them liable for cleaning up the mess.

 

I fear any agreement such as this would be reasonably futile, the very thought triggers memories of the wonderful world of the "Ellisdons Joke and Novelty Catalogue" that featured prominently in our childhood, a whole cornucopia of pranks available to any minor via postal orders. The same would apply now i'm sure.

 

As regards the mess element, well that's what littering laws are there for, they could easily be held accountable, or their parents, should anybody actually bother with any kind of enforcement, either from police or "Neighbourhood Wardens" or whatever they are called.

[Gug]

Did anyone have bad experiences with drunken gugs at the otherwise-successful pier bash over the weekend?

 

On Friday evening (when there was still loadsa bairns about) various zombies were bumbling in and out of the beer tent, knocking into folk and falling about. Nobody seemed to be doing anything about them.

 

I saw one falling on a pram with a baby in it. Another tried to fight with me because I had the audacity to tell him he had knocked over my pint of beer and flatched somebody's noodles (box of).

 

Apparently on Saturday a blootered member of one of the country jarl's squads threw a tin of beer at the Masterchef dude.

 

What happens at night in a pub full of drinking adults is one thing but allowing roaring drunk gugs to career around busy public spaces among bairns, folk in wheelchairs, grannies, folk carrying cups of steaming coffee and expensive pints is, to my mind, not acceptable.

 

I know it must be difficult to refuse aggressive male drinkers but some bar staff are still selling stuff to them when they are already totally out of their pea brains. If it was crack or heroin they were running riot on nobody would tolerate it and the cops would be right up 'em.

 

Stewards and bar staff need to wise up. Perhaps a bar/club licence or two should be suspended until the message starts to get through.

[peeriewife]

It was good fun on the pier as i had my kids there and although i did not encounter any problems i heard from am few friends that they had met some unsavoury behaviour on the pier but all the same did enjoy it.

 

I am all for kids having fun etc but we should be able to walk down our street and attend community events with out having to watch out for un nessesary( sorry bout spelling) behaviour. I know of a lot of people who have voiced their unease at walking along commercial street on a saturday avo because of the crowds of young people. As i have previously said i have had abuse from some of them. Give them their dues some are no problem but there are ones who are a problem.

 

On the subject of drunks - Now that long ago I had a well known drunk approach myself and my children. My daughter was crying so he decided he would take her from me and calm her down. I DON'T think thats gonna happen. This is one occasion Were regular drunks are left to wander the street during very public times. I am just glad that some of the bus drivers are stopping them using the bus service.

[dollydodo]

I wiz braaly mad ee day whin i cam oot a Miller Opticians. Dey wir 4 boys kicking a baa on da street, atween da sop shop an Shetland Youth Information, as tho dey wir on da pitch at Ibrox! Da baa wiz gyaan aa ower da place an, apaert fae nearly hittin me, it nearly hat an elderly wife idda legs. Twa fok I met (neither o dem aald) just rolled dir eyes it me in response ta da caerry on. Dis is no whit we waant ta see on wir street, or is it??!! (Da street is bad enuff withoot being tormented wi a fitbaa!!). I wid o imagined hit widna a taen lang for some 'shopkeeper' tae a complained??

[dollydodo]

An tell me dis. Ir fok allooed ta cycle da wrang wye alang da street?? I see hit happenin a lot.

[JustMe]

dollydodo wrote

 

An tell me dis. Ir fok allooed ta cycle da wrang wye alang da street?? I see hit happenin a lot.

 

Simple answer to that is NO!.....a one way street applies to pedal cycles. Depending on the wording of the pedestrianisation order it is also likely that they should not be riding on the street during the traffic free times.

[Willies_landy]

Is it me or has anyone else noticed that the trouble with the young ones on the street has got worse since SYIS at da Cross has been on the go. I have seen countless youngsters playing football at the cross maybe all it takes is a responsible person for SYIS to stop it.

 

The kids gather around SYIS and the staff think it is a good thing (job security and all that) maybe they should thibk about a new name "Decline at Da Street.

[peeriewife]

( ** MOD EDIT ** - subjective post backed only by personal opinion )