Topic ID 1243
Today's front page of The Mercury is one of Raymond Brown's best pieces of imaginitive writing to date. [url="http://www.herts-essex-news.co.uk/news/mercury/hertfordshire_mercury/2006/01/06/hello%20mum%20were%20yobs.lpf"]Hello, Mum, We're Yobs[/url] I saw this group in town when they were making "The Office Chair" and they certainly weren't "rioting through Hertford" as The Mercury describe. They were standing quietly chatting. The ambitious Mr.Brown clearly aspires to a career at The Daily Mail! [8D] They're not your average townies. They have access to web space and video editing facilities. Too much time watching Jackass has clearly influenced their "work"! http://www.freewebs.com/csproductions/ As they say - never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Well done Raymond!
Reply ID 14552
Shock horror! Kids acting like kids.
Reply ID 14553
When I read this I took time to seek out their videos. I was expecting anarchy and all I saw was a group of slightly mischievous kids causing very little harm or disruption to anyone but themselves. The worst they did was swing on the castle gates. While I do not condone damage to the castle I have to say they did not look like the bunch of oiks who I caught tearing the Christmas lights off the treein the castle in 2004 or the lads I saw spraying graffiti all over the building by the motte. They certainly did not look like the sort of kids who hang around and intimidate. They were just a bunch of kids with access to a video camera. As for the quote "We'll be trying to trace the youths involved and will be going to schools to try to identify them", well as the main person behind it clearly states his name it shouldn't be that difficult.
Reply ID 14554
I would like to point out that the kids swinging on the gates probably did less damage to teh 1000-year-old wall than installing the gates in the first place! Having said that, I'd like to bet that this little bunch of chavs are the same kids that bomb around Hertford in their hairdryer-engined scooters without a clue of the road rules.
Reply ID 14555
quote:I think not. As I mentioned, they're not what would generally be referred to as chavs or hoodies. They're more of the goth persuasion.
Originally posted by thefair1973
Having said that, I'd like to bet that this little bunch of chavs are the same kids that bomb around Hertford in their hairdryer-engined scooters without a clue of the road rules.
Reply ID 14556
Lock them up and throw away the key, I say.
Reply ID 14557
Thats the best place for Goths !! Mind you, thye would probably enjoy being locked in some dark dungeon. Wierdos! [8D]
Reply ID 14558
I meant the Mercury reporters who write the drivel they put in print these days.
Reply ID 14560
it really is an excellent piece of dramatic writing. The guy should send off a few examples to the Daily Sport. They seem more like his kind of paper
Reply ID 14563
quote:Say that the next time im standing next to you at the bar,we will have a beer and laugh it off! [;)][8D]
Originally posted by Victor Meldrew
Thats the best place for Goths !! Mind you, thye would probably enjoy being locked in some dark dungeon. Wierdos! [8D]
Reply ID 14565
Downloaded the files expecting to be shocked, found them quite amusing. Jade didn't seem bothered about them filming. In the scale of some of the things that go on , this comes down very low if at all on my list of police priorities.
Reply ID 14568
One day I watched these kids filming outside of Tescos in Hertford, 1 was wearing a flouescent jacket and directing traffic in and out the road next to Tescos. Although this could be dangerous to themselves and others I think in the scale of things it was a bit of harmless fun. The police need to spend there time in catching the youths who are causing a lot more disorder to Hertford. Hertford does not have a lot to offer youths in the way of things to do and I can only see the situation getting much worse what with new families moving into the town. We could do with a leisure complex being built, instead of a tennis academy moving to Hertford. The proportion of young people in Hertford is growing at a fast rate, something needs to be done about the leisure facilties. I am not saying this would be the stop to the thugs out there but a lot of kids would welcome something like a nightly youth club and a cinema, bowling alley etc. The kids making these movies will not be from a deprived background will they? so let them have there fun. I have seen the youths around the town and they seem harmless enough. Not them who ride those mopeds, most of them ride B.M.X. bikes. So come on Mercury give us some real news to report on, the Mercury is becoming like The Sun in its headlines during the last couple of months.
Reply ID 14569
There was a bit in last week's Mercury about a new Managing Director for the paper, hopefuly he might get things back on track.
Reply ID 14573
Watched the office chair video. Thought it was quite well put together. We should be encouraging budding Spielbergs not moaning about them. And there's nothing wrong with a bit of Goth now and again!
Reply ID 14574
I'm confused now. Is the "motorbike madness" the lad jumping into a bush from the back of a scooter travelling at about 5 mph?
Reply ID 14575
quote:That's the one!
Originally posted by Ewoowar
I'm confused now. Is the "motorbike madness" the lad jumping into a bush from the back of a scooter travelling at about 5 mph?
Reply ID 14579
Nice of the Mercury to give them free publiity. Office Chair looks like fun, they have obviously chosen a quiet time, when there aren't many people about, to film it. If they had done it in the daytime there would have been queues out of the post office.
Reply ID 14580
Looking at the Jade Goody video it appears that the people making the video are far more courteous that the journalists that constantly hound celebrities.
Reply ID 14581
The Office Chair was made between Christmas and the New Year - Tuesday quite possibly.
Reply ID 14582
I know some of the people involved and what they are doing started off just as a bit of fun. Ok, maybe it went a little far but it's not really bad. We watch the videos in maths when we're meant to be playing maths games on the web! There's nothing else for us teenagers to do in Hertford. The shops are crap and there are like no youth clubs. So what else are we meant to do? Note from Admin: Please post as a new thread
Reply ID 14584
quote:What sort of things do you want to do? Would you be prepared to channel your enthusiasm for for fun into organised work, fund raising for charity, service for the community and fellowship with other "youths"? If so, these are solutions available. Follow the links below and look for information about Interact and Rotaract. http://www.ribi.org/information/index.asp?InfID=27 http://www.ribi.org/information/index.asp?InfID=27 If you really are serious about wanting to improve what's on offer for younger people in this area, you can do something about it. Talk to your friends and see if you want to be the people who actually do something, rather than just moan like the rest of us.
Originally posted by imi
So what else are we meant to do?
Reply ID 14585
quote:I'm sick of this "poor me" attitude. You seem to be expecting to have entertainment spoon fed to you. What is there for middle-aged people to do in Hertford? For the elderly? You can join exactly the same clubs and societies, the only thing you cannot do is drink alcohol and frequent pubs. Do you think this is what everyone over 18 does all of their free time? What makes teenagers so special that they have to be especially catered for? Do you think that once you are out of your teens all these activities miraculously appear? Stop whinging and go and do something proactive. Stop using your age as an excuse.
Originally posted by imi There's nothing else for us teenagers to do in Hertford. The shops are crap and there are like no youth clubs. So what else are we meant to do?
Reply ID 14586
Get a groupof mates together, put down 4 jumpers for goalposts and have a game of football.
Reply ID 14587
Very positive, nora. Rather than give the lad a verbal beating, why not make some suggestions?
Reply ID 14588
quote:What there is or isn't for teenagers to do is not the subject of this discussion and has been covered elsewhere ([url="http://www.hertford.net/yoursay/topic.php?id=663"]here[/url] for example). I'm not quite sure why Imi has raised it as the posts here have been generally supportive of the teenagers involved. What's at issue is the shamefully sensationalist tone applied to the story. If The Mercury want to report on the very serious problem of yobbery in the town it has done us a diservice by focussing on this particular group of adolescents.
Originally posted by imi
There's nothing else for us teenagers to do in Hertford. The shops are crap and there are like no youth clubs. So what else are we meant to do?
Reply ID 14589
quote:You could try moving to another town if you do not like it when you are a adult Nora Batty, but when you are a kid you do not have a choice where you live. As for the youths comments, what shops does he think is crap. As my earlier post said I think that there is a need for a entertainment building in the town for the young, plenty for the middleaged entertainment wise, and also lots of community clubs for the elderly are needed. Note from Admin: Off topic.
Originally posted by nora battyquote:I'm sick of this "poor me" attitude. You seem to be expecting to have entertainment spoon fed to you. What is there for middle-aged people to do in Hertford? For the elderly? You can join exactly the same clubs and societies, the only thing you cannot do is drink alcohol and frequent pubs. Do you think this is what everyone over 18 does all of their free time? What makes teenagers so special that they have to be especially catered for? Do you think that once you are out of your teens all these activities miraculously appear? Stop whinging and go and do something proactive. Stop using your age as an excuse.
Originally posted by imi There's nothing else for us teenagers to do in Hertford. The shops are crap and there are like no youth clubs. So what else are we meant to do?
Reply ID 14604
Myself and friends did very similar things when we were that age (only 30 now! so not long ago) and we weren't yobs, we never hurt anybody or intimidated people intentionally (of course parts of the videos could be seen as intimidating to some) As far as the label Goth goes - there really is no true unifying stereotype or dress code as it were. Not all Goths are depressed, nor do they all wear black, listen to the same music, or employ the same modes of self-expression. This tends to make Goth-spotting a little tricky - the dictionary even defines the term to mean a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement! Seems to me they were just having fun, using tools at their disposal (we shot a video for our band in the lifts etc at Waitrose car park - is that being a yob?) and actually having a sense of humour. Jade understands she is looked at curiousely by lots of people and of course she will have the youngsters being brave and going a step further than the rest. At least they were open and honest about their antics.
Reply ID 14606
quote:Sometimes age can be used as an excuse. In this town, as we have often noted, there a lots of pubs and bars and eating establishments to cater for the main demographic of wealthy, middle class, 25 to 45 year olds. The shops tend to follow suit - hair stylists, beauty salons, flowers shops, small clothes shops etc. Very little is actually set up to cater for the teenage market. Until you are 18, you cannot drive (usually) and we know how unreliable public transport is; you cannot (legally) go into one of the many pubs and bars we have; you are not earning the sort of money needed to survive or shop in Hertford. Unless you play sport and join the youth teams of the various clubs, there's not a huge amount around that jumps out and says "come to Hertford if you're a teenager". OK, perhaps they should be doing more to help themselves. What? Perhaps this is something the Mercury should be investigating and asking rather than just screaming sensationalist headlines at us. Inside, on their Comment column, they then go on to say it's ok to do this sort of thing, if they have to, so long as they don't actually put anyone else in danger. Not really the solution I was looking for but a conclusion that suggests "kids will be kids."
Originally posted by nora battyquote:I'm sick of this "poor me" attitude. You seem to be expecting to have entertainment spoon fed to you. What is there for middle-aged people to do in Hertford? For the elderly? You can join exactly the same clubs and societies, the only thing you cannot do is drink alcohol and frequent pubs. Do you think this is what everyone over 18 does all of their free time? What makes teenagers so special that they have to be especially catered for? Do you think that once you are out of your teens all these activities miraculously appear? Stop whinging and go and do something proactive. Stop using your age as an excuse.
Originally posted by imi There's nothing else for us teenagers to do in Hertford. The shops are crap and there are like no youth clubs. So what else are we meant to do?
Reply ID 14608
So you think we have a duty to entertain people who have not much money (they all seem to be able to afford mobile phones) and who have no means of transport (no bikes, scooters, mopeds, parental taxi) even though they are physically and mentally sound? No wonder there is no fire in their bellies. Surely this is the incentive they need to earn money? At 17 I was so desperate for driving lessons I had 3 jobs whilst I was still at college, and a summer holiday job. And those jobs still exist now - waitressing, shop assistant, babysitter. And in the holidays I worked as a playleader at the local playschemes and as a childminder. I hated my well-off parents for not giving me an allowance and I had to give them a fiver a week token rent. But it made me get of my a**se, and I will do the same to my kids. We have to get rid of this dependency culture.
Reply ID 14609
I agree with Nora but at the same time it is not ALL the kids that are like this, just a few 'orrible oiks that give the rest the same label. I had a job from 12, then 2 by the time I was 15 (yes at the same time as school!) then at college, I was better off than ever with working every other evening and all weekend at a pub. That's how I afforded to get to college, to buy my first car etc etc. Plus it gave me a social life for free working in that type of place. At the same time, we also need to remember that you follow by example (with some exceptions). My mother worked hard all her life and struggled but always managed. I work hard now and it is paying off, I own my home and my mother is also fine too. If we as adults/parents/respectable people do not raise these children the 'right' way then how can we expect them to be the fantastic humans we would all like them to be? Unfortunately we do not all have the same idealistic views and tools/tricks to do this.
Reply ID 14611
This topic has been locked because Imi's post has completely changed the subject and tone of this discussion. There are other threads that discuss teenagers and that is where the later posts in this thread should appear. Unfortunately, discussion of the Mercury's reporting has been cast aside as members respond to a question which was not a part of the original issue.