vandalism

[My login is Henrietta]

I reported one youth to his parents a I saw him throwing stones at a bus. Parents response was to do nothing at all about it and he was out roaming as usual the next day (and was from a very young age). If that was my child he would be grounded for a very long time. Same child was throwing stones at a shop whilst his own mother was in there buying clothes (he didn't know). The mother carried on as if she didn't know him!! Parents get an easy life when he is out on the streets rather than in their hair. Same kids cause havoc at MHS and I believe Dominos Pizza is a target.

I'm not sure how far it would get you but one definition of child neglect is " the failure of parents or caregivers to meet the needs that are necessary for the mental, physical, and emotional development of a child".

If bad/dangerous/illegal behaviour of a child is reported to the parents or care-giver and they decline to deal with it, it would seem to be within the above definition, particularly if repeated incidents are reported to them and ignored.

Reporting incidents to the police, Social Services, NSPCC or other such organisation as a case of suspected neglect might be the way to go.

[JMC]

I reported one youth to his parents a I saw him throwing stones at a bus. Parents response was to do nothing at all about it and he was out roaming as usual the next day (and was from a very young age). If that was my child he would be grounded for a very long time. Same child was throwing stones at a shop whilst his own mother was in there buying clothes (he didn't know). The mother carried on as if she didn't know him!! Parents get an easy life when he is out on the streets rather than in their hair. Same kids cause havoc at MHS and I believe Dominos Pizza is a target.

[Cyberman]

I also think that things have got worse in the last few months. I often see gangs of youngsters - 12 to 18 yo - hanging round in the Market Street area. I have not seen any vandalism, but their language is pretty foul, they are usually fighting and I'm sure they are smoking something illicit. I wouldn't like to challenge them - I think I would come off worse.

I have stopped walking through that way with my 10 yo son on our way to/from Scouts, the language and behaviour is so bad.

[DerekS]

Thank you, Mark, and others who go out of their way to try to keep Marple civilised. Maybe I'm getting old (no maybe about it) but I have noticed a surge in bad behaviour in the last few months. Audi driving through Marple at 60mph, gangs of youths at night in the park, many other small but frequent incidents. I feel that it is because the police have been "withdrawn" from the streets, and that the lawless elements are taking over. Is this a consequence of "cut backs"? Whatever it is makes me seriously consider moving permanently to a more enlightened environment.

[admin]

I can't express how much I despise the people who did this in Memorial Park last night, so I won't try. It has been cleaned off.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Barbara]

That is awful Mark - all I can say is a big thank you to you and your wife (and all the members of the Friends) for your hard work in making our park such a nice place.

[admin]

What pleasure do these idiots derive from doing things like this?

That's very difficult to answer Barbara.

All I can add is that at the same time (Wednesday night) a Scout Hut window was also broken (while scouts were in there) and the incident was reported to police.

On Friday night bottles were smashed and broken glass left all over the Infants Play Area and particularly all around the climbing frame. It took my wife and I around 20 minutes to clear it all up on Saturday morning.

Today the park keeper and I have removed the pampas grass from the war memorial beds because over the weekend they have been trampling all over the beds to break it off and putting it in litter bins and then setting fire to it.

The world is full of idiots and too many of them are spending their evenings in our park.

Anyone witnessing acts like this, please report it to the Police if serious and you see it ongoing and to Friends of the Park by email (afterwards) with as much detail as possible.

[Barbara]

I see the ne'er-do-wells have struck again - two windows broken in the Senior Citizens hall.  What pleasure do these idiots derive from doing things like this?