Anti-social neighbours? Not our problem

[jake-the-peg]

Theresa May's been outining the Governmen't view on anti-social behaviour


Strong community action must be used instead to bring back a sense of personal and social responsibility and to make anti-social behaviour "unusual, abnormal and something to stand up to", she (Theresa May) said.

http://www.independen...t-change-2037553.html

Is it just me or does this sound like saying "fix it yourself - not our problem"?

[bobjugs12]

To me, it sounds more like "Take some responsibility for your own lives, rather than expecting others to do everything for you"

[derekpara]

What do you mean Bob ? If I took down the next scumbag who key's my car I'll end up nicked and in the cooler.

[R1Geezer]

I like it, the authorities say deal with it yourself so presumably that means I can go round and behead the little fcukers does it? works for me!

[jno]

strong community action, that's like in the Frankenstein films, is it? The burning torches, the pitchforks...

[New Judge]

The difficulty is, jake, that as soon as people do take action on their own behalf to stop such behaviour they end up taken down the nick themselves.

Perhaps that's the idea.

[jake-the-peg]

That's kind of it isn't it?

Is she advising the local community to take the law into their own hands?

Perhaps an Isralii style blockade

Perhaps she thinks that if we all go around and "tut" loudly enough they'll see the error of their ways and appologise.

I'd like to hear her explain, perhaps with some examples, exactly what she thinks the local community should do.

Maybe I'm missing something but all this "local community action" stuff we're getting from Cameron and Co. right now sounds like the worst case of slippery shoulders in British political history

[naomi24]

Jake, I can't get into the link but I strongly suspect you are, once again, beating a political drum here. However, that aside, if it hadn't been for the woolly-minded past government encouraging the namby-pamby 'blameless' society we now 'enjoy', people may have retained a modicum of self-respect and continued to shoulder responsibility for their own actions - instead of continually attributing their personal failings to someone, or something else - and being excused them.

If this is the beginning of a reversal of that trend, then there's no doubt that laws will need to be changed in favour of the victim of crime or of anti-social behaviour, and that I would welcome.

[jake-the-peg]

A little drum

I like to think I'd have stuck it to a Labour home secretary making such a fatuous comment too.

But if you're sticking up for her - maybe you'd like to explain the sort of community action you think she's recommending we all take against our proplem neighbours - because I can't get my head around it

[bobjugs12]

Guys, I didn't mean 'behead the little lovely fluffsters', nor was I encouraging taking the law into your own hands. But, as a strong adult male capable of looking after myself, if I see a group of kids acting like Snags I have no problem telling them to stop, or if I've got my kids with me and somebody is swearing in front of them i'll tell them to "quit it"

Maybe if other capable members of society had the backbone to realise that not every gobby teenager has a flickknife under his hoody, and the desire to not allow some spotty oik to f and blind on the train in front of others then we could start to make a difference.

[ludwig]

It's ok to get rid of asbos if they're going to be replaced by something better, but it does sound rather like 'Sorry, but you're on your own from now on'.

On the other hand, we've always known we're pretty much on our own anyway. Perhaps this just makes it official. Perhaps she's just saying, there's no change except that we're not going to harrass people as much for trying to defend themselves in future.

It would be nice if politicians just said what they mean honestly so we didn't have to sit around trying to read between the lines and figuring out what they were really on about.

[jake-the-peg]

And when you get a brick through your window later that evening Bob what are you going to do then?

[naomi24]

Jake, as I said, I can't get into the link, so I don't know what she said. However, I do believe if we as a society begin to deem anti-social behaviour to be totally unacceptable, rather than continuing to excuse the perpetrators for various reasons - poverty, boredom, lack of education etc, etc - then perhaps the tide will turn. A bit like the anti-smoking laws really. Not so long ago smoking was perfectly acceptable - but it's been so demonised that anyone who smokes now is almost considered a pariah - and it's high time those who have no sense of responsibility to their communities and couldn't give a hoot for the peace and the well-being of others, went the same way. Their behaviour is unacceptable, and nothing excuses it.

[bobjugs12]

I've never been bricked before Jake, and I've spoken to dozens of kids about behaviour. I'm not talking about threatening to kick their little heads in but instead being reasonable, eg Scorte on bus swearing whilst talking to scrotette, me: "Excuse me mate, I've got my kids with me, and thy don't need to be hearing languauge like that". broccoli (9 times out of 10) : "Sorry mate, didn't see 'em there"

Teenagers are not the big bad urban terrorists that the media portray, some of them are even quite nice when you get chatting to them.

[jake-the-peg]

I'm not saying it does

People don't excuse it, just look at all the posts on here about it.

The thing is that this sort of antisocial behaviour is often associated with alcohol and advising people to confront drunken anti-social yobs is really really stupid.

Like I implied to Bob - you know them but they know you too.

I'm just waiting for Ms May's conference at the fulneral of the first pensioner to get stabbed following her advice.

Seeing as she's so keen on responsibility - I wonder if she'll take responsibility for her speech then