Youths

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lj007
Posts: 7
Joined: 15 Dec 2010 13:30
Location: United Kingdom

Youths

Post by lj007 »

Hi I just thought I would share with you what I saw with you today on return from a shopping trip to the high road.

On passing Istanbul on Watling Road, there were around 6 kids (12 and under) doing what looked like a drugs deal in the car park.

On entering Fairlawn Park and passing Fairlawn Court, I saw a couple of teens engaging in a sex act down the side return with two other youths - one on a bike looking on.

What the hell is going on?

In fairness, I didnt recognise the kids as residents on FP but couldnt be certain but what can one do or should do?
davegr
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Joined: 13 Nov 2006 18:11
Location: sydenham

Re: Youths

Post by davegr »

What has happened to Fairlawn Park over recent years? I lived near there years ago and it seemed ok. You hear nothing but bad things now and this seems to be reflected in the house prices.
leenewham
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Re: Youths

Post by leenewham »

Did you contact the SNT lj007? They are the people who can act on this rather than just posting in a forum (I'm not saying don't do it, I'm saying contact the SNT or police first if you see any suspected criminal activity). The SNT contact details are below.

I live in Fairlawn park and yes, it has it's problems, mostly with kids near the entrance. In general we find it really quiet and in recent years it has got better. We like it here and the friends we have made. We know quite a few people in our street and it's nice that people say hello and smile at you as you pass.

The reason you don't hear good things about Fairlawn Park is because no-one posts 'I live in X street and it's wonderful'. If anyone did they would probably be accused of trying to inflate house prices!

This whole part of Sydenham needs a lift though from the Dolphin down to Bell Green. Things are starting to happen. Home park has improved, the building works next to the new Italian restaurant look good as do the new schemes at Bell Green, the library has been saved, the Alfred looks good, the building at the top of Kent House Road is being done up.

Now we need to make it known that it's not acceptable for kids to behave in the way that is described above. But the proper channels should be used to inform the people who can deal with it.

The SNT contact details are:
Sydenham.snt@met.police.uk
020 8649 3598
07843 065921
Claudia Drezner
Posts: 5
Joined: 17 Jul 2011 18:40
Location: East Dulwich

Re: Youths

Post by Claudia Drezner »

OMG :shock: what colour were they? you never see jewish kids doing this kind of things :?
Robin Orton
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Re: Youths

Post by Robin Orton »

You've provided those of us who aspire to political correctness with an interesting conundrum there, Claudia.
lbere
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Joined: 6 Sep 2006 16:11
Location: se26

Re: Youths

Post by lbere »

Let just move on from Claudia and not get way laid from the topic.

I must add that I seen lots of kids outside the shop (not the drug dealing, but just hanging around on bikes) on Friday as well, wonder if the shop reported them as they certainly would be putting customers of from going into the shop.

The sex acts were going on the other night as well. Cant believe that the neighbours/residents dont say something.
CaptainCarCrash
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Re: Youths

Post by CaptainCarCrash »

All I can say is teenagers this day and age get up to all sorts of mischief, if you see them again it may be a good idea to just call the cops and let them deal with it.
sfhyouthforum
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Location: Sydenham

Re: Youths

Post by sfhyouthforum »

Can I just say that we were all young once and probably had at least one experience snogging or humping a fellow teenager, and if we didn't, we were thinking about it and hoping it was us instead of sitting on the wall watching our best mate.

Regarding the drugs, sadly lots of young people are smoking weed and doing drugs. It seems to be a status thing as well as having nothing better to do. Getting the police is A WAY of tackling these things, but, as I've mentioned before, the best way is to roll up your sleeves and get involved. Mentoring, volunteering at a youth club: All adds up. These kids often lack stong adult role models and adults who can guide them with wisdom. Which leads me on to my next point.

Lastly, and I was going to mention it first. The way these forum posts descend into total rubbish highlights to me how adults are just as, if not more, flawed than these youngsters. We still can't communicate without descending into some Pseudo-racist anti Semitic squabble. We should remember that these young people grow up in the environment we create, their behaviours reflect what's in that environment, or lacking.

When one points the finger, three of his own point right back to him. Maybe we should sort our own lives out before worrying about little squirts who most often than not, grow out of it (See Tim Newburn's bell curve of delinquency. Criminology Dept, LSE).
leenewham
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Re: Youths

Post by leenewham »

I think a 'sex act' is probably more than just 'snogging and fumbling'. When it's clear view of people walking past a residential street and there are a few of their friends watching, that's different to the innocence of youth, certainly more than mine anyway! Getting the SNT involved may help and perhaps they can steer them in the way of the youth centre. If left and regarded as just 'what kids get up to these days' then the line between right and wrong is broken and it carries on to the next stage. Where I lived before moving to Sydenham we all suffered when unruly behavior when unchecked.

I totally agree with you SFH about some of the comments in here.
admin
Site Admin
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Joined: 20 Sep 2004 21:49

Re: Youths

Post by admin »

I agree with Ibere's comment - lets move on. I have moderated out most of the remarks which were a reaction to an inappropriate comment in Town Hall. I left the original as otherwise the remaining stuff would not read logically.

Meanwhile back in the Park ...

Admin
Voyageur
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Re: Youths

Post by Voyageur »

bizarre.....
CaptainCarCrash
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Re: Youths

Post by CaptainCarCrash »

Voyageur wrote:bizarre.....
Indeed.
Eagle
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Location: F Hill

Re: Youths

Post by Eagle »

I agree very bizarre especially the comment from Claudia about the colour of Jewish youths.
I thought being Jewish was a religion and I believe there are Jewish people of many colours. But what do I know.
CaptainCarCrash
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Location: Even further than before

Re: Youths

Post by CaptainCarCrash »

Forget any crazyness about ethnicity,

The point is, I really do wonder where some people that write on forums come from?

Cotton wool wrapped utopias? Middle England? beats me.

I'm watching Rebel without a cause at the moment, knife fights, sexual actvity, fighting the rozzers wth guns, driving cars over cliffs, jeesus h christ. 50's middle America makes us look like we have come a long way considering, or have we?

What freaks me out is that it wasn't even the 60's yet :shock:

!967 must have mortified the tame tranquility of life in the slow lane.

Woodstock, Super groups, LSD, but most distreasingly Free Lurv :shock:

The world is mad.

It's OK for an 18 year old to go to some far flung distant land and kill, kids fiddling about in an ally way, shock horror, call the police.

I know drugs are bad but how many pot heads have you ever met that want to start a fight?

Zero, that's because you won't ever see one.
Last edited by CaptainCarCrash on 29 Jul 2011 19:12, edited 1 time in total.
CaptainCarCrash
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Re: Youths

Post by CaptainCarCrash »

PS I at least waited until I was in the 5th year seniors :D
leenewham
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Re: Youths

Post by leenewham »

mikecg wrote: The point is, I really do wonder where some people that write on forums come from?

Cotton wool wrapped utopias? Middle England? beats me.

It's OK for an 18 year old to go to some far flung distant land and kill, kids fiddling about in an ally way, shock horror, call the police.

I know drugs are bad but how many pot heads have you ever met that want to start a fight?

Zero, that's because you won't ever see one.
I come from Nottingham, so that's in the middle of England.

So you think it's perfectly ok for youths to performs sex acts and smoke marijuana in a public street do you Mike?

As for pot heads starting a fight, I've personally seen loads of incidents. The reality isn't like Beavis and Butthead. More like meathead and meathead.
CaptainCarCrash
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Re: Youths

Post by CaptainCarCrash »

leenewham wrote:I come from Nottingham, so that's in the middle of England.

So you think it's perfectly ok for youths to performs sex acts and smoke marijuana in a public street do you Mike?

As for pot heads starting a fight, I've personally seen loads of incidents. The reality isn't like Beavis and Butthead. More like meathead and meathead.
Probablly fueled by a cocktail of stuff Lee.

From experience I never wanted to do anything after a spliff let alone start a fight. I suspect they were on a mix of stuff including drink.

Nottingham is a rough town Lee, I worked there once over a weekend and there was a mini riot in the town center, the damage that was caused during it made about £1M of improvements :lol:

I was refering to a socal class and not the middle of England Lee.

I don't condone bad behaviour but the government sent the wrong message when they declassified dope to a class B drug and then U turned because now it is everywhere.

The thought of children doing any of this stuff is bad.

Broken Britain?
bensonby
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Joined: 18 Jun 2008 12:28
Location: Kent

Re: Youths

Post by bensonby »

I always find it slightly bizarre that there seems to be a modern perception that any kind of low level anti-social behaviour (some criminal, some not) should always be the preserve of the police.... Do people really expect the police to be on scene in time and when they do turn up what do they want them to do?

All too often I'll ask someone "what would you like the police to do"? And they don't seem to know.... "I don't want them arrested" is an oft quoted one. Or, if you have the opposite "I want them arrested" many people are unwilling to provide statements and go to court (What is the point in calling the police if you are not going to give a statement!?!? - I'm of a mind to prosecute such people for WPT)

Criminal Justice outcomes (which is what the police do) are only a small proportion of things that can be done. Yes, the police can turn up and give words of advice - but that is no more than any person can do. Why are people so loathe to challenge anti-social behaviour? It's far more likely that the local resident will see the behaviour rather than the police. After all, by the time the police turn up it's very possible that the "youths" etc will be gone and it's far less likely that a police officer on his patrols will just randomly happen across such behaviour (as funnily enough people start behaving when a copper comes into sight).

With the way things were going you're going to get less help from the police about this sort of thing in the future with the cuts in numbers and the greater demands on police time. (although that isn't the official line of the Met). If the police were called to this sort of thing then it is not going to be anywhere near a priority and you'll be lucky to get a response within an hour. By all means make the SNT aware so that they can focus more patrols in an area - but as I said before, people behave themselves when a uniform is within sight and you're not going to get a plod standing on your street corner 24/7.
sfhyouthforum
Posts: 264
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Location: Sydenham

Re: Youths

Post by sfhyouthforum »

Well if all those concerned gave £2 a month to the forum I run, which is an umbrella organisation including police, schools, youth clubs, and concerned residents like us, we could signpost resources to have outreach workers in these parks; have the adventure playground open more than two evenings a week; staff areas with trained professionals that can help sort it out...Or if you don't want to pay, train up and become a mentor-volunteer and hang out there yourself. Dare I suggest: talk to them? Doesn't have to be aggressive or begin with the behaviour. Could be asking how they are, what they're interested in. If you're worried about paedophobia, go with a friend, or group like 'Here For Good' (17 Sydenham Road), who've been working in Home Park now for years.

Sometimes I think us adults treat problems with youths in such an unhelpful inefficient way. Most of these young people have problems at home that mean a good telling off from police won't mean anything when their relatives shout and beat the crap out of them every week. Try something new. info@volunteeringlewisham.org.uk http://www.volunteeringlewisham.org.uk/


If you're interested in setting up a standing order to us, the charity's bank details are at the end of this film we made recently. See Forum Cafe post 'Youth Worker Eats Dog Poo'. Though I'm not advocating eating teenagers...don't think they'd taste nice, including ones already 'herbed' so to speak! :wink:

Also look out for our AGM in September. xx

The Sydenham and Forest Hill Youth Forum, reg charity 1078093
lj007
Posts: 7
Joined: 15 Dec 2010 13:30
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Youths

Post by lj007 »

Gosh! I didn’t realise that my post would create such a furore!

To the person who wanted to know what colour the kids where - does it matter but they were lots of different shades - they were somebodies sons and daughters.

To those that said call the police - in both cases the acts would have been over long before anyone could arrive - though I did look out for a car/bike foot patrol on the way but to no avail.

Yes, I'm sure most of us of a certain age have had a bit of a misspent youth and have thankfully grown out of it and become more responsible (if not more hypocritical) with age but it was never the less shocking for me - doubly as I had a young child with me.

I guess i posted the message to share with sadness what I saw - what could possibly be the future for most of the kids around here.

Roll up our sleeves and get stuck in - yeah sure. But if the residents association can’t even be bothered to convene a meeting so we can discuss these issues like adults and invite the kids along to treat them as adults what hope is there? :o
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