Last week I was joking with a colleague about the futility of consulting with youth (much to the horror of other colleagues). I told him that all they ever say is "There's nothing to do, nowhere to go." We had a good snicker over that.
The colleague in favor of consulting with the yoof-of-today hadn't heard my earlier summation and proudly pronounced that some research she was involved in with youth rioters had gotten to the root of the problems. It wasn't just the racism and the poverty - no, they also didn't have enough youth facilities.
Well, no wonder the windows were smashed and the cars were burned.
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Tonight the Vol-in-Law and watched a programme called Why Kids Kill.
As it turns out, the reason is: there's nothing to do and nowhere to go.
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Chores. That's what these kids are lacking. If they're bored, if they've no place to go, if they're brimming with excess energy that has no place to spell itself out except into property damage and fighting it's because they simply don't have enough chores to do.
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4 comments:
I'd suggest more carom boards and ping pong except in both cases you are giving sticks and paddles to teenagers.
My, my, you've been a mother for less than 9 months and already you sound like an old fuddy-duddy. You better start planning, no scheming, right now about how you are going to insure that your son has lots of CHORES to do, and DOES them. I wasn't all that successful.
Basketball, football, baseball, soccer,guitars, fiddles, cards, dancing, ping pong, whatever. Keep them TIRED. That's the answer. If you can do it with constructive chores, well done. But keep them tired, hungry and sleepy any way you can.
"You better start planning, no scheming, right now about how you are going to insure that your son has lots of CHORES to do, and DOES them..."
Heh, we've been planning & scheming on that since before Buddy was born!
Good deal. VolMom
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