Teenagers in Shetland

[BigMouth]

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??

 

I would like to have a quiet word in their ear. Sadly it is the worst thing an adult male can do for fear of being accused of one thing or another.

 

Reminds me of talking to a friend about her son who was bored stiff. "He needs a man in his life", she said. Dad had left them some years ago and this youngster, 7 or so, only ever saw his mum, or his female child minder, or female teachers. Get him in the Scouts I said. Apparently the Scouts are run by women these days. Men just wont take the risk of getting involved.

 

So when you see the men walking past, just ignoring the kids when the kids really need a talking to, you now know why. Its just not worth the risk. Society obviously prefers things like this.

[JustMe]

Was at the cross for my cheese just a short while ago (3:30pm) and there were assorted kids hanging about outside the SYIS including one that looked a bit old for being at school.....he was the one with the football. Would not say they looked in any way threatening.....if anything they made the place look untidy which is a bit of a shame as they are in full view of the tourist office.

[ksmith]

I feel the need to reply to some of the comments posted recently about SYIS. I am the Project Manager of SYIS and welcome comments, both positive and negative from any member of the community. I have always declared an open invitation for anyone to come in and actually see what it is that we do, and I still do. If peeriewife or willies_landy would like to give me a ring on 692002 and arrange a time to meet I would be happy to speak to them. I do feel the need to reply on this forum to some of the comments made however, and the misconceptions that are around at the moment. Many of the young people 'hanging' around the street and at the cross are nothing to do with us. They are not our users and we certainly do not agree with unruly behaviour. We have on countless occasions gone outside and tried to stop young people (some of whom we do not know) from playing football, but to no avail and so our policy now (as should be the policy of anyone who is concerned by this behaviour) is to inform the police. We work very closely with the police and do not condone any behaviour that is intimidating or law breaking. We do work with some of Shetland's most challenging and marginalised young people who are ostracized because they are seen as the trouble makers. Some of these young people have been damaged by our society and again SYIS does not condone their behaviour, but understands there are reasons behind it. SYIS is not responsible for what happens in the street, no more or less than any other shop. The Market Cross has always been a gathering place for people, long before SYIS became established. Again I offer an invitation for anyone to make an appointment to come along and see what we actually do for the community. Karen Smith

[Willies_landy]

Nobody is saying that Shetland does not need something like SYIS. Maybe it should be relocated to maybe Papa Stour. Maybe the council could save 5% cuts by not funding this place. I dread to think how much money the rates on the building cost and then there is the running costs. Maybe the Islesburgh House could find some room for SYIS after all it is a Community Centre. Another place could be Fort Charlotte which is out of the way and accross the road from the police station.

[peeriesooky]

i have bin alang tae da syis and wis no impressed at aa by it. and i see du wisnae able to inform us as tae whit good syis dus fir da community. in theory, aye it is a gud idea. hooever, in practice it is a doss hoose fir kids and ithers that hae a total disregard tae ithers. forget aa dis pc nonsense aboot being "damaged by our society". i had a hell o a bad childhood and i didna feel da need to mak ithers aroond me feel awkward and frightened as to uncertainty as tae whit i wis ganna dae or how i'da reacted if onyboady hud spoken tae me. that is simply excusing der behaviour. being "damaged by our society" is a reason, nae an excuse. also, if folk wir tae phone and mak an appointment tae see whit du dus, how can we be sure it wid be a true representation of whit da norm is? whit exactly is it dat syis dus? nae whit its meant tae dae, but whit it actually dus?

[Twerto]

i have bin alang tae da syis and wis no impressed at aa by it. and i see du wisnae able to inform us as tae whit good syis dus fir da community. in theory, aye it is a gud idea. hooever, in practice it is a doss hoose fir kids and ithers that hae a total disregard tae ithers. forget aa dis pc nonsense aboot being "damaged by our society". i had a hell o a bad childhood and i didna feel da need to mak ithers aroond me feel awkward and frightened as to uncertainty as tae whit i wis ganna dae or how i'da reacted if onyboady hud spoken tae me. that is simply excusing der behaviour. being "damaged by our society" is a reason, nae an excuse. also, if folk wir tae phone and mak an appointment tae see whit du dus, how can we be sure it wid be a true representation of whit da norm is? whit exactly is it dat syis dus? nae whit its meant tae dae, but whit it actually dus?

 

 

Translation please.

[peeriesooky]

[breeksy]

i had a hell o a bad childhood and i didna feel da need to mak ithers aroond me feel awkward and frightened

 

You are making quite a big assumption there peeriesooky - that the kids are trying to make others around feel akward and frightened. I would say that the vast majority of them don't actually think too much about what the people around them are thinking or feeling - and are actually mainly concerned with themselves and their peers.

 

Certainly when I was a teenager I would hang around the street with my mates, never considering that we might actually come across as intimidating to others - particularly the elderly - which no doubt we did, due to the fact our group included long haired and denim or leather-clad teenagers, and we could get very loud on occasion. but I guarantee you that none of us ever did or intended any harm.

 

It's all a matter of perception - the further away you get from teenage years the more likely you are to feel scared or intimated by groups of youths. Chances are the majority of them hardly notice your existence.

 

Britain has a historic record of always thinking 'the youth of today' are so much worse than 'in our day'.

 

I personally think it's a load of rubbish.

[shetlandshaun]

this thread should be retitled " wouldna o happened in my day" !!!!!

[peeriesooky]

i ken it wis jist as bad in my day. always is/was/will be.

i didnae actually mean that da kids/youth were doing it on purpose or purely tae get at folk, jist that i dinda feel da need tae act lik dat at aa. but, whether intentional or not, the making of others awkward and/or frightened is the result of their behaviour either way. i jist dinna buy intae this "damaged by our society" notion as a reason for der behaviour. i mean, wha isna "damaged by our society" in wan way or anither?

[peeriesooky]

also, whether it wis as bad in my day or not, i still dinna lik it today. and it wisna dat lang ago i wis in my teenage years either. i'm only 28

[breeksy]

jist that i dinda feel da need tae act lik dat at aa.

 

OK, just because you didn't act like 'dat' (chances are I didn't either) I can still see that at that age, how we were and what we were like *may* have been intimidating for *some* - unless you only ever hung around with one or two mates when you were on the street, or you didn't go to the street at all, chances are some people may have found you (or others around you) intimidating.

 

but, whether intentional or not, the making of others awkward and/or frightened is the result of their behaviour either way

 

I would say that their behaviour isn't what is making others feel awkward and/or frightened - I would say it is the individuals own reaction to the behaviour that makes them feel that way. Unless an individual is being deliberately intimidating (which I don't believe most of these young people are, although I do accept there will always be exceptions) then I don't think they should be held responsible for other peoples reactions to them.

 

Sure, they should go somewhere more suitable if they are playing football, for example, in a public path/road. But if they are just messing with their mates and not actually doing any harm - then it's the others that have the problem.

 

People are too quick to forget what it was like to be a teenager. When I was a teenager my dad said that he thought that the teenagers were more reponsible and better behaved than when he was that age - but we were still very much subject to this same kind of criticism.

[peeriesooky]

personally, i did only go tae da street wi ain or twa mates. and hardly ever hung aroond da street onyway as it's dull, wi nithing tae dae so whits da appeal o hangin aroond da street in da 1st place.

also, it is der behaviour that is makin folk feel awkward and frightened when their behaviour is purposely intimidating, such as shouting efter de, comin rite in aboot di face, staring rite at de but refusing tae move tae let de by etc.

tae be fair, dus right, not aa o dem are bad, but when du's haed a bad experience wi dem and du comes face tae face wi a big crood o dem, it's difficult tae be so liberl in di thinkin when du's got 3 peerie kids wi de

[breeksy]

tae be fair, dus right, not aa o dem are bad, but when du's haed a bad experience wi dem and du comes face tae face wi a big crood o dem, it's difficult tae be so liberl in di thinkin when du's got 3 peerie kids wi de

 

I suppose another child might alter my thinking - I doubt it though.

[peeriesooky]

considering my eldest has had a fitba kicked at him, as has my youngests buggy (twice) and my daughter has been knocked ower by dem running aroond wi nae consideration fir ithers, and i continually am left wi haeing tae go ontae da road tae get past dem (buggy and kids in tow) i think i am entitled tae think dat its der behaviour dats at fault