bcworld

All sorts...

Engage the youth, avoid our own 'English summer'

Shocking language for the ABC!

I was on a busy train not that long ago...there were four girls (16-18ish) sitting on the floor at the door. As the train got busier they were really hindering people getting off and on. At Richmond the train was really busy and some dude had the audacity to ask them to stand up. It all went a bit Vicky Pollard from them on....

"Why ya talkin to me?"
"I just asked you to stand up so peple could get on"
"Why ya talkin to me?"
"Bit of common courtesy"
"Stop talkin to me!"

...and so on until the poor guy gave up.

They were all wearing some uniform which I thought was for an employer and I was going to have a word with their boss...turned out it was some beauty school in the city so I didn't bother.

I see young people on public transport all the time that make other passengers lives a misery - generally not kids in school uniform though, they do tend to be very courteous, although the kids in Brisbane seemed much more so than here in Melbourne.

It's the same old, same old...

Dorothy

There are a brother/sister here who take my train home every night. They sit in the last carriage in the same seats every day and the girl pretends to sleep while the boy sits with his face in his laptop. They get told every day that school children using the 50c student fare are meant to stand for adults. Some days they do, but it's a pain in the ass having to tell them the same thing every single day.

Amazulu

Rebel rock chicks are the best - I got a semi.

I like the new Eskimo Joe (Fremantle band) single too.

jad n rich

They are teenagers, the get the same hormones as UK teens, you get teenagers from hell just the same as any other country. Why would it be any other way

My 17 year old is grade 12, life on 17th birthday went from skateboard, pushbike ( when its not too boiling ) to the car. The car is a worry. Teen hoons kill themself here all the time, its a culture, 2 car loads in area where sons school is in last 3 years.

We simply dont let him use or ride in any vehicle ever on a friday, saturday night. Other parents are different, one of his mates smashed his parents car pissed 3 weeks ago and they are still letting him drive, lied to the police to get him off, and are doing up a V6 powerful Holden for him for his birthday. You beaudy mate

On the nicer social side they camp, party but but dont kid yourself there are plenty of drugs and booze going on.

14 year old is in advanced academic and the kids spend a worrying amount of time out of school on computer, games and facebook. School has blamed so much technology for the slipping grades this year

Eldest son no longer a teen, fought off 600 other kids for a electrical apprenticeship, then like many their 20's moved overseas for more opportunities.

Kids in OZ are not automatically more sporty, just as many are huge lard arses as surf stars

Price of airfares prohibits much plane hopping for weekends, especially now Tiger have had their wings clipped.

Knives and guns, not a big problem here, its a upper class area ( no class system is another myth). Some kid got stabbed on the school bus, but it was pretty hushed up and some say it was the self harm thing anyway.

All in all, same hormones, spots, tantrums as UK.

chris955

It seems to me that some people almost don't want to say they are the same wherever they are and will come up with apples and oranges comparisons to 'prove' they are so much better here. I certainly wouldn't try to say they are better in either place as it seems quite obvious that OVERALL they are exactly the same, some good, some bad.

carolinephillips

I think it is a bit unfair to call the OP paranoid. When you get on a bus and you are surrounded by youth in their hoodies, cussing and swearing, and boasting about who they have beaten up, it is certainly enough to make you uneasy.

In a lot of places in the UK, there seems to be a gang culture, and the streets in these places are NOT somewhere anyone vulnerable can go. I lived in Bucks, near High Wycombe, and I avoided certain areas where youths congregated, and once even had to leave the shopping centre as there was a gang knife fight going on. This is supposedly affluent Bucks.

My perception of Australian kids is, yes they swear a lot, but if you ask them to tone down the language a bit as you have a young child, they do so. On one occasion one of the lads even told his mates to stop swearing before I asked the group. I'd never do that in the UK. I know there are good and bad in all countries, but most of the teens I've met here are friendly and outgoing, and will give up their seats for an older or less able person. (It's the adults who don't!)

On the minus side, there is not a huge amount for teens to do in smaller towns here, so it is places like these that they have more problems with drugs, hoons and alcohol. Any town or city will have its good and bad side, so if you are coming out here, research your area well and find a place to live that suits your personality and concerns.

chris955

There are many places here I wouldn't go to after dark and I'm not really keen during daylight hours. We had a full on fight right outside our house a few months ago when someone was stabbed. I was standing outside with my wife behind our big fence and one of thugs outside was chatting to a mate telling him what he had done to 'the other bloke'. Many trains in Brisbane have guards on them to try and stem the violence that has become very common.
It is by no means like that everywhere but it seems migrants seem more than happy to accept it is endemic in the UK but really quite rare here.
I really don't see the difference, maybe they are much worse up here in Brisbane ?

renth

Happened in my street a few years back when living in "affluent" Ocean Reef. home invasion, stabbing thousands of dollars damage. Their "crime"? their dog barked at a bunch of hooligans walking past who threw a brick at it, it then escalated. It was horrific.

chris955

Well our dog was going mad at the idiots outside our place but luckily they were more interested in killing each other than out dog.
It happens everywhere and that is the problem. You cant really escape it by moving to a 'good' area as we already live in one
A cop friend and his family have moved to the bush because he doesnt want his kids to grow up where he used to live in Brisbane because of all the crap he would actually witness in his work.
I'm not of course saying it is better in the UK as it depends on where you live in either country.
I do laugh when someone says that some teens did such and such and that would never happen in the UK, unless you are put into exactly the same situation how on earth can you know ? I cant say that a group of drunken idiots wouldn't get into a big streetfight right outside my house in England but it never happened while I was there, does that mean that the streets of England are safer ? Of course not.

Still Game

I don't think anyone was calling the OP paranoid? general consensus is that it not a good idea to move based on whether teenagers are good or bad - the OP said this woudl be the biggest factor for her. No-one can say teenagers will be good or bad in any area of the world not now or ever. Good areas will have thugs now and again and bad areas have good people. And who knows what will happen in the future - no-one can say.

fish.01

That article was interesting, thanks...it is amazing how closely the solutions have followed the ideology of the writer, including Cameron.

chris955

Now this isnt a tit for tat response to what happened in the UK by any means but I was reading an article about an ex boxer who basically saved a 100 or so kids from getting involved in the riots and he was seemingly asked if this could happen anywhere and quite correctly he replied yes it could including Australia because of our high youth unemployment and what is referred to as the postcode street gang culture.
I have seen more than a few people almost gloating saying thank goodness we moved to Australia when we did, ignoring the fact that the troubles only affected about 1% of the population and assuming it could never happen here.
Does anyone really think that this couldnt happen here ?

northernbird

Could you provide a link to that article please?

chris955

Why don't you believe me ?
It was a line at the end of a story in the Courier Mail, I'll have a look for it online when I have time.
So what is your answer to my question ?

northernbird

I do think it can happen here, I have never said otherwise. All I have ever said is that things I witnessed in my life in the UK I don't witness here. I didn't say I don't read about it happening but physically happening on my doorstep, it most definitely doesn't.