Gangs of Children
Created by billcI don’t think anyone would disagree with the idea that Kingsway has problems with some groups of children causing trouble.
I live on Lynham Drive and even young children are causing difficulty. Recently our front garden was trashed (plants and stakes uprooted) by a horde of 9-10 year olds, who then proceeded to hurl clods of earth at our windows and act in a rude and threatening manner to my wife.
I’m even told by one lad that one of these youngsters carries a knife! (Needless to say the Police have been informed), but really I’m starting to think that acts of vandalism could be the least of our concerns!
My perception is the the groups get bigger and bolder as the weeks go by.
We need to organise some strategies to deal with this, and we need to do it ASAP. Please note I’m not talking about being confrontational, but rather getting some expert advice and following it. Surely an organised group of adults ought to be able to out think few groups of children?
bill
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May 31st, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Hi Bill,
Thanks for contributing
Sorry to hear about that incident, it sounds like your wife had a hard time
My partner also heard about a certain local youngster carrying a knife; let’s hope the Police can identify him and get that sorted asap; ultimately though – as you quite rightly say – it seems we’re going to need to devise some strategy to deal with this kind of nuisance ourselves!
If anybody has any ideas please speak up
May 31st, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Hi Bill,
I agree about the gangs of children, but I worry we may be powerless to do anything unless we can actively engage with the parents… and hope the parents give a damn!
June 1st, 2008 at 6:45 pm
This sounds like part of the Neighbourhood watch! I don’t know whos remit this area is, I know there are already 3 rep’s so far on Kingsway, but would some form of coordinated rota for “patrols” be useful and effective?
And a plea, in this case Bill says he has informed police, we NEED to do this in EVERY case. If the police aren’t informed then they don’t have the option of doing something or know that there is a problem. If anyone knows who the knife carrier is, then report it. We need to take responsibility for this village, I don’t want to see it become another “avoidable” area of Gloucester, and there is no reason why it should be if we all pull together!
June 1st, 2008 at 7:36 pm
As the mother of a 9 year old I can only apologise for the trouble you have had billc. The difference is, that my son is not allowed to go too far, and I like to think I have brought him up to respect other people.
Yes, I do let him play on the street outside our house with his friends, but they are all very polite and well behaved children.
I would like to think that if he was up to no good, someone would come and tell me. You can’t know what they are up to all the time without keeping them on a lead! It does worry me though that as he gets older it would be very easy for him to fall in with the wrong crowd and start getting into trouble. Any advice on how to stop this happening would be appreciated.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:10 pm
No doubt this is the same gang that gather under the “Matalan Bridge” to Kingsway?
I have suggested CCTV! Two cameras, one located on the main cross roads (where the traffic lights are), this would see all four roads and hopefully act as a good enough deterrent!
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:57 am
I think the biggest issue is finding them something to do. Smaller kids are well provided for with the parks, however for the kids who are 8-9 and over (ie: early teens) there is little to do and they are constantly being blamed for the actions of the few. We need to get them to take some pride in the village and then they will “self moderate” any others coming on.
I remember at that age being able to go out at 9am on a Saturday and not coming home until 9pm, having entertained myself with friends all day, without resorting to crime. However times have changed and – as Salz says – the need to keep kids on a shorter leash has been pressed upon us by modern society.
I think the Youth Pod, when it is installed will be a good start, but we need to be proactive in getting these teenagers something good to do and not just ignore them until they do something wrong. By the same token, if they are falling into the wrong habits, we need to tell the right people about it!
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:44 am
On The subject of finding them something to do… I have somebody compiling a list of local activities and clubs for youths and will post it as soon as I can. Meanwhile, Paula Needham (Head teacher of the new Kingsway School) said in this post:
"I also wanted to comment about the groups of children and the apparent lack of things for them to do. Kingsway Primary School will aim to be the community school in every sense of the word and we are keen to start up clubs etc out of hours for everyone young and old. But what would you like in your area? I can only guess but we will have 6 empty classrooms for at least a year and if you can think of a club, we will do all we can to get it going for you. If you have a child living in the village can you ask them to let me know via paula.needham@gloucestershire.gov.uk?"
June 5th, 2008 at 7:10 am
I agree with these comments and hope we can find these kids something more constuctive to do make kids proud and respect the area they live,as a mum of a 8 and 10 year old i know it can be hard to keep tabs but i have recently got to know other childrens parents and now we all communicate to keep an eye on them, i also no that alot of the children who cause the problems and use fowl language are not from kingsway they seem to come over from tuffley which really infuryates me i live opposite the little park and see what goes on all the time at one point i was having to call my kids in everytime there was any swearing going on which was not fare on my kids, i have brought them up to have good manners and respect im very proud they dont seem to follow these kids who do,
since the easter half term my kids and a few others now spend alot of time at the local library which is great they really enjoy the computers and choosing there own books also having responsability of going alone the staff there are fantastic!!
I also agree with salz when she say’s if her child were up to no good i also would be more than happy for someone to inform me that my child had done something wrong then try to correct it rather than not no and not being able to sort it out.
As i live opposite the park im more than happy to keep tabs on what goes on and inform the neighbour hood watch team on what i see im a laid back person easy to talk to and being a young mum i get on great with the other kids who seem to respect me [id like to think] but i will not tolarate swearing or vandalism the kids i talk to no this and we have a good connection they seem to comunicate with me and due to this i find out alot of whats going on so im happy to be apart of trying to help,
the good kids need a break and the bad need help not written off.
Its a shame that these few bad kids make all youth of today bad and the good well behaved kids are not given the respect they deserve they are always being told they have anti social issues or up to no good just for hanging around or because they go to the play park[thats what its there for] just like kids are suppose to do [like we all did once]
if we all comunicate we can make a big differance to whats going on help kingsway be a joyfull place to live.
louise x