Skateboarders

[Lammie]

"The spirit of slap"... Good one. I'll have to use that!

 

[cmjust0]

These are not new problems.. Go rent the movie "Lords of Dogtown" (based on a true story) and you'll see that skate punk kids are really no different today than they were *30 years ago.* There are more middle-aged ex-skater punks out there than most people care to acknowledge.

To be honest, I can sort of identify with a lot of these punks.. Not that I was ever a skater per se, but I was a very angry young man not so long ago.. They hang out and skate and drink and smoke weed and 'prowl' (you know what I mean) TOGETHER for the same reason that gang members join gangs -- to feel like they're part of something.. Anything.. For a lot of them, it's all the 'family' they've got.

Honestly, you'd probably have better luck running them off by trying to GET them to skate at your church, than by trying to keep them from it.. If you act like you really want them around and want to become part of their family, they'll probably get weirded out and go somewhere else.

 

[rkm]

Had a neighbor with a teenage boy. The boy came home one day with a item, [I don't recall what it was] His questioned him asto where and how he got it. His son finally confessed that he had shopped lifted it. He made his son walk seven milesback to the store and return it to the store manager, then walk back home. He followed him in the car so to be sure he was not given a ride. He had plenty of time to think about it. I don't know if the store pressed any charges. I did have new found respect for my neighbor.

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

You know, the church folks could get these kids and their parents together, set up some sort of fundraiser and use the money raised to build them a skateboarding ramp of their own.

Good idea! Raise some money to build a ramp. Can be done fairly cheaply with a little plywood and a few boards. But the kids should have a big hand in building it. They should learn to be constructive, not destructive.

What would be wrong with the adults giving some guidance...and the kids doing odd jobs,working on the weekend (hauling hay or some such thing) to earn the money for building their ramp? Then they might appreciate it a little more! ;-)

 

[msscamp]

I don't understand why parents let their kids get away with that kind of behavior.

Maybe it has something in common with the question a number of parents asked my Mother (a retired 4th grade school teacher) over the years of her teaching career - summer vacation, now I have to deal with them, why can't school be year round? - not exact but it is the gist of it.

 

[Angus Guy]

Sounds like these kids have a new disease I just heard about. It is called Disipline Deficit Disorder or DDD. My understanding is that it is a genetic disorder.

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

Nothing is every appreciated by gift, only effort will breed the appreciation.[/quote]

kids learn through what they experience, they are all born good and kind... it is what happens after birth that molds them.

Partly right...and partly wrong...We are all born with the "old sin nature"....and it is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that makes a good person. ;-) :cboy:

 

[Hippie Rancher]

easy to complain and blame (about the kids and the parents), more work to be a community and head up a project all could work on together to solve the problem, teach those kids (and parents) about community and responsiblity.

Just sayin'. Our little town did exactly what some suggested - one mom helped the skater kids get organized - they did a petition to the city council and raised money for the project. They now have a spot at the city park to skate. More importantly they saw that when they got organized and behaved appropriatly the "grown -ups" got behind them and supported thier project. And the "grown-ups" saw beyond the "fashion statements of the day" to see good kids that just needed a LITTLE extra effort and guidance.

Win - win. I can happen.