16 Aug 07
Originally posted by Bosse de NageBy constantly telling us things like "14 year old boy kills pensioner for cigarettes" or "12 year old boy knifed to death by gang" we are being conditioned to view our youth with suspicion and derision. These reports do nothing to aid the situation, quite the opposite! They compound the feelings of alienation in OUR youth. We are told that we need more police as a result of this, this is simply not the case. We need to provide an environment where our teenagers don't feel excluded.
I think cadwah might be one.
Seriously--you don't think gang violence is a problem--or that it can be laid squarely at the door of "the Establishment"?
16 Aug 07
Originally posted by MarinkatombWhy not assist youth to create their own?
By constantly telling us things like "14 year old boy kills pensioner for cigarettes" or "12 year old boy knifed to death by gang" we are being conditioned to view our youth with suspicion and derision. These reports do nothing to aid the situation, quite the opposite! They compound the feelings of alienation in OUR youth. We are told that we need more p ...[text shortened]... ly not the case. We need to provide an environment where our teenagers don't feel excluded.
Originally posted by MarinkatombI agree.
By constantly telling us things like "14 year old boy kills pensioner for cigarettes" or "12 year old boy knifed to death by gang" we are being conditioned to view our youth with suspicion and derision. These reports do nothing to aid the situation, quite the opposite! They compound the feelings of alienation in OUR youth. We are told that we need more p ...[text shortened]... ly not the case. We need to provide an environment where our teenagers don't feel excluded.
when I was 18 or so, me and a lot of my friends had a long dyed hair, dark clothing, some piercings, steel cap doc martens etc... most of us were good kids, from nice homes, graduated top of the class and so on. but whenever we went to a store, there was a store detective or a guard following us around in seconds. on streets, old ladies tightened the grip on their handbag or crossed to the other side of the street when they saw us, regardless of how friendly you smiled at them. it was all in their heads, but there was nothing we could do. that's something I try to keep in mind today when I encounter people.
now I'm 32, living on an area somewhat heavily populated by druggies, winos and different kinds of delinquents. sometimes people wonder how I dare to go jogging at 2am, and I always answer that I've never feared people, and I'm not going to start now. and I've never had any problems with the local riffraff. they're just people living their lives, just like everybody else.
people fear the most ridiculous things. axe murderers, the dark, forest, terrorists, wild & domesticated animals, rapists, ebola, bikers, tattooed people, ex cons, burglars and so on. things that have an abysmally low probability of affecting their lifes. where as the actual threats, cigarettes, traffic, cancers, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, the things that will most likely end their life, those things are all but disregarded.
the reason for that is pretty obvious. the way how media portrays those threats is clearly warping our perception of reality. "a 10-year-old boy killed a 5-year-old" gets international media coverage, "400 000 smokers dead last year" is a short article on page 28.