More Troubles with Teens
Last week, we reported on an incident at the Court Street Barnes & Noble, in which a band of teens had an altercation with a manager and one eventually socked the guy. A similar problem seemed to happen yesterday, according to this note from Park Slope Parents: “All of 5th Street between 6/7 Aves is…
Last week, we reported on an incident at the Court Street Barnes & Noble, in which a band of teens had an altercation with a manager and one eventually socked the guy. A similar problem seemed to happen yesterday, according to this note from Park Slope Parents: “All of 5th Street between 6/7 Aves is taped off tonight. According to the policeman: ‘Stabbing’ ‘After School’ ‘Yes, it was students.’ He is not allowed to confirm if it was a fatality, but given all the investigation still going on at 8pm, I fear the worst. I have walked through the groups of teenagers on 7th Ave at 3pm almost every day last year and often this year and while they are often rowdy and often oblivious to anyone else on the street, those same students can also be very respectful and polite. It is scary and sad and yet another issue we should all be aware of and talking about.” Meanwhile, another group of Brooklyn teens was arrested for attacking another youth. Well, let’s talk about it, then. Thoughts?
uff, MM and others…are you kidding me? You are the one race baiting and, much like a seasoned spindoctor, changing the conversation to YOUR talking points, not to the issue initially put out there. Being residents of Brooklyn means that we are interested in quality of life issues. We’ve all seen bad behavior by black and by white teenagers and when it crosses the line to violence in the community, it is important information. One can choose which aspects of it to dwell on, people can be so narrow minded that they would judge a group based on others’ actions, people can reach out to those injured, or they can get involved in getting better after school problems – all of these scenarios are open to us as members of a diverse and complex community. You cannot be the resident thought-police and try to control what is reported on to block out possible negative connotations. The more you do that, the less your salient points and perspectives can be taken seriously.
p3, my daughter attended MS51, albeit in the gifted program, with no problems at all.
But I wouldn’t have sent her to John Jay. ALtho I think it’s no longer JJ but has been broken into a couple of smaller schools.
Some merchants on 7th Ave lock their doors at 3PM, and I personally have seen some of these kids stealing from the supermarket across from 321 and attack one of the workers.
I disagree, once again you take my words out of context. I no more get my legal information from Law and Order than you do, or brxgrl, for that matter. I am more than willing to have a substantive debate about this or any other issue, but not with someone who deliberately obfuscates by making throw away phrases like “snotty rich kids”, or a mention of a tv show seem to be the meat of my argument. I take that as personally as you take being called names.
The fact remains that people like PropJoe may be mindless idiots, and here I will call names, but his statement is probably closer to what many think, than not. Please note, I did not accuse you of same. Ceolaf had a lot of good points, and I do not think that explaining why people do what they do is the same as condoning or excusing it. Pig three also make good points.
It all goes back to my original statement that there is no respect for anything in many of our kids, not for themselves, others, property, or authority. I do not see that as a racial or class thing, but a societal ill. However, when we hear of incidents of violence, our mindseye is not colorblind, or class blind, and we make racial and socio-economic assumptions about who is doing what, without any facts. We do ourselves a dishonesty to not admit that, because we all do it. I think an honest look of race and class in this country is beyond where we are now. Not just because of real racism, but because we all, and I do mean all, have a really hard time admitting that we all have preconceptions and prejudices.
pig three, no I know nothing about John J. High School given I have no kids and don’t live in PS, which is why I kept asking the question regarding how people can make the assumptions made above. Maybe if you were a little less “snotty” yourself, you would help decrease the derogatory references aimed at Park Slopers.
Biff.
If you know anything about John J. High School (5th street/ 7th Ave) then you know that no kids living in Park Slope make up the student body. You also might know that there is “prison” of sorts in the basement of students who have been removed from their school and are “not welcome” anywhere else.
As to “snotty rich kids”:
I have witnessed these kids from MS 51 (5th street / 5th Ave) run across the tops of eight to ten parked cars in a row, jumping from one to the next – causing several thousands of dollars in damage. Beatings of fellow “snotty rich kids” resulting in hospitalization.
Not sure if any of you have kids or how old they are but, this I know. I have three. Two who have not started school yet and one in eight grade. I would never let any of them attend either of those schools. Both types are ultimately the same on extreme opposite ends of the spectrum. Thankfully, we are moving out of Park Slope. Where? That is discussed daily by you all on other posts. I’ll keep it close to the vest.
MM – i’ll get over it if you will. disagreeing with your opinion, and disagreeing about the relevance of your assumptions to the matter at hand doesn’t mean that i’m “denigrating” anything. can’t you handle people responding to your opinions? and why the need to get personal? i started my post, “with all respect,” and you come back accusing me of being a snotty rich kid (or having one). nice.
if bxgrl has any facts to back up her implications about the snotty rich kid’s case, then confidences were broken. if not, then it’s supremely irresponsible to post what she did. either way, it’s a dangerous and really foolish, and i have no doubt that the attorney friend wouldn’t be happy about it. (fyi, attorneys have duties to former clients. or maybe that hasn’t been on law & order yet?)
Ceolaf-
I consider myself progressive liberal so lets meet on some common ground here. While I agree with the fundamentals of your opinion I have to say that you really have some blinders on. You think that if we change our attitude and opinion on rowdy kids that they will cease to behave like this?
Ever been mugged? Chased? Stabbed? Beaten up?
Have you lived in this city before say, 1990?
And sorry to be provincial but I’ll ask the inevitable, are you from Brooklyn?
“In short, they know how the neighborhood feels about them.”
ceolaf, sorry for sounding like a broken record, but why are you assuming the kids involved in the stabbing were not from Park Slope? Where are you (or anyone else) getting this from?
ceolaf,
sorry but again you cannot argue with the facts. I gave you an excellent example.
Far Rockaway High School
the kids in that school all lived in the surrounding neighborhood. so your theory of violence as a consequence of surrounding snootiness is invalid.
Face it, with the decay of a strong family structure, namely a father to reign in adolescent male aggression, the kids are not alright.
It’s not just me speaking. this is proven by countless societal studies on the role of the male in the household. sorry Rosy.