Feral kids.

I feel so sorry for the staff in those shops that they just mob and rob. They must be so scared yet frustrated that nothing can apparently be done.

Maremia

If/when the youngsters are arrested, is it the case that their phones may be taken from them?
If so, their social histories may be examined.
Experts could trace back the origins of the 'mob riot' prompt.
Legislation could be introduced to make 'incitement' a crime.
That would help.

There is already a law Re incitement
As for unlocking phones if it’s a new model iPhone it’s not easy and takes a lot of expensive man hours.
The number crunchers will look at the crime and come to the conclusion it’s not worth the money.

petra

Maremia

If/when the youngsters are arrested, is it the case that their phones may be taken from them?
If so, their social histories may be examined.
Experts could trace back the origins of the 'mob riot' prompt.
Legislation could be introduced to make 'incitement' a crime.
That would help.

There is already a law Re incitement
As for unlocking phones if it’s a new model iPhone it’s not easy and takes a lot of expensive man hours.
The number crunchers will look at the crime and come to the conclusion it’s not worth the money.

I think different crunchers should be used on their phones, very heavy ones.

I’d confiscate their phones, permanently, that’s their social network removed, word would soon get round.
Never be allowed of course.

It occurred to me that a few years ago something similar to this mob action existed, although it was much more innocent. Remember those 'flash mobs' where a bunch of people met up in a railway station or other public space to suddenly perform a well rehearsed selection from, say, ''The Sound of Music' or whatever? Yes all a bit narcissistic and indeed often annoyingly foisted on an unsuspecting public, but no real harm done. Now we're seeing criminal 'flash mobs' that have a rather similar quality to them - the perpetrators' need to perform. On social media they have their shocking performance broadcast via phones not only to their friends and contemporaries, but to the world in general.. They are suddenly celebrities, and in that they have achieved their goal - you only have to look at TikTok or Instagram to see other examples. I'm convinced that behind much of this mobbing is the need to show off and demonstrate how clever it is to shoplift in an organised way, and also demonstrate that the authorities are helpless to stop it. It's as much about achieving celebrity as it is about causing mayhem. Would be interested to know what other grans think!

I find that both children and young adults do not seem aware of those around them. Walking into you, stopping without checking, stepping into oncoming traffic as if it was not there.

Then social media responses are sooo rude - I wonder if they would really say such things face to face.

So it is just one more step to not thinking of others that allows them to think it is OK to run riot.

Jaxjacky

I’d confiscate their phones, permanently, that’s their social network removed, word would soon get round.
Never be allowed of course.

I'd drive over them.

The phones, not the kids, in case you were confused!!

Yes confiscate the phones

It is social media that enables this and other antisocial activities, it's much more difficult to do person to person

David49

Yes confiscate the phones

It is social media that enables this and other antisocial activities, it's much more difficult to do person to person

As well as all the bullying of children via social media too.

My family grew up in East London, the same area as the Krays. My dad said their power was terrifying, but what they did was strictly organised crime, not mob mentality. Of course this kind of organised crime was (and still is) awful in itself but mostly the general public were safe enough. These days the streets don’t feel safe at all. Certainly not where I live now.

Not excusing the Krays at all, btw.

I got off the bus just before Easter and I thought that there had been a terrorist attack .
There were police ,police cars and ambulance everywhere -and chaos .
The kids had broken up from.school and they were there to preempt any problems.

Lesleym57

My family grew up in East London, the same area as the Krays. My dad said their power was terrifying, but what they did was strictly organised crime, not mob mentality. Of course this kind of organised crime was (and still is) awful in itself but mostly the general public were safe enough. These days the streets don’t feel safe at all. Certainly not where I live now.

Not excusing the Krays at all, btw.

I had a strange coincidence in my life Re George Cornel shot in The Blind Begged pub.
My Mother and Father were in The Blind Beggar that night.
The odd coincidence is: I was in a club in Catford the night before when someone was shot.
The two shootings were linked because of the rivalry between between the Richardson gang ( south London ) and the krays ( north London.

pably15

Just last week there were two instances in the same place, outside a bus station where one man walking past some teenagers was attacked in broad daylight, had to be taken to hospital, police are treating it as attempted murder, next day same place a man got off a bus. was attacked by teenagers,
It makes you scared to go out.

This reminds me of a bus trip DH and I took in France. At one of the stops a group of teenage boys got on, they were tattooed, with chains dangling from their wrists and looking really alarming.

DH and I were cowering in our seats, expecting trouble.

But no. The lads chatted quietly amongst themselves, and when they got off the bus, every one of them thanked the driver politely.

However, it was the kind of community where everyone knew everyone else, and any hint of trouble would have reached the parents before the teenager got home.

That era has disappeared from current UK society, where parental discipline has largely disappeared, and mobile phone use is one of the factors influencing mob behaviour.

If needs be, use tear gas to disperse them. Also ban teenagers from hooding up and wearing baseball caps.

My dad said when he was young the local policeman would clip you round the ear and march you back to your dad. Now there are very few local policemen and fewer dads.

I was chatting to DGD about a teenage house party we heard of which had completely got out control (she wasn't there! but word had spread).
This in a quiet rural area, not a city.
Apparently these parties are called Project X after some film. I'd never heard of either. If an invitation is posted on the internet, potentially thousands could attend, as happened in the Netherlands and Germany and everything gets out of control.

They sound horrendous.

In some ways, there was more violent crime in the eighties than now. This was the era when football hooliganism was its worst and people avoided city centres when there were local derbies, and trains and buses were often smashed up by rival fans. Also you had pubs and nightclubs that were notorious for violence and being unwelcoming to outsiders. Early on in the decade, there were often punch ups between rival youth cults like mods and skinheads.
Yet there was little knife crime, drugs were far less common, teachers could control pupils better, and the gangs we had were mostly football based, or related to music styles. Certainly you didn't have the situation in London we have now, and someone who hooded up then would probably be stopped for being a suspected burglar or sex attacker.

We were settling down to watch the football in our hotel in Italy when a group of the local boys came in with their girlfriends. Our first thought was "There goes our quiet evening" but they came up to the bar, ordered a selection of Coca Cola, Fruit Juice, and Iced Tea, and settled down for a quiet chat. After half an hour they went off for a walk. If they had caused any trouble there would probably have been hell to pay from their Grannies.

Allsorts

Parents are responsible for their children, not teachers or the police, they should be held to account.

Society is also responsible for the children.

David49

Yes confiscate the phones

It is social media that enables this and other antisocial activities, it's much more difficult to do person to person

Confiscate the phones? Like they did in Nepal???

Parents should be responsible for their children, but fewer and fewer are prepared to take on that responsibility.
See how much attention is paid when 'society' attempts to intervene with a child misbehaving, kicking the furniture, running round a public room, shouting, screaming, fighting, generally disturbing others when apparently under the control of its parents.
I witnessed this breakdown recently on long train journeys across England. The train service was excellent; on time, clean, comfortable, helpful staff. The only disturbance was created by out of control children, shouting, clambering over seats, running along the aisles, and more dangerously, on the platforms, without their parents making the slightest attempt to control them, and in some cases actively encouraging them. It happened on three journeys out of four; the fourth one was a very early train full of workers who actually worked on their journey and the carriages were quiet.
Reception teachers are claiming (some) young children are arriving at school totally unprepared, almost feral, spitting, snarling, eating with their hands, unable to use toilets . It is not due to covid, it is due to lack of parental responsibility

I actually wonder why some people have children.