| Underage Drinkers |
| Martin | quote:
More than 200 litres of alcohol has been seized from underage drinkers in Leyland as part of an operation to reduce crime.
For the third year running, Operation Calm has been hailed a success by Leyland Police, after they seized a range of alcoholic drinks from groups of underage drinkers congregating in different parts of the town.
[url]http://www.leylandtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=77&ArticleID=689836[/url]
quote:
Campaigners have launched a battle to get booze banned from the streets of Leyland.
South Ribble Council bosses are being urged to consider slapping an alcohol ban on the town centre in a bid to increase safety and reduce crime.
The calls comes from local councillors Matthew Tomlinson and Gina Lewis, who say they have canvassed local opinion and people are in favour of a ban.
[url]http://www.leylandtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?SectionID=77&ArticleID=689835[/url]
Should we ban alcohol from the streets of Leyland?
If youngsters are getting drunk and hanging around on the streets, shouldn't the authorities look at why they are doing this and what else they could be doing instead?
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| steve.w | Martin - good point - we should be asking WHY they are doing this. But as adults we should also be honest enough to ask..are they doing anything different than we did, and is it really worth panicing about. I grew up in leyland, sitting on the market stalls or on the 'wreck' every night of the week drinking more often than not, and this was 1974 /5.
I can still remember my joy at getting served in a pub for the first time @ 15? - i think the pub has gone now - it was by the ship i think, was it the seven stars?. then when we are firm fixtures in that pub we braced ourselves to get served in the ship !!!
I think the other thing about the drink off the streets campaign is an issue of safety. Surely the young people will just go and drink elsewhere. Streets tend to be public, bright and safe. Maybe young people will have to resort to unsafe places - derilict building etc which are far more dangerous.
Further i do get annoyed at what seems to be a campaign to stop young people being together in public. I know there are unruley elements, i know groups of young people can look threatening to others etc. But there is a lot of talk about the faults of young people today, they dont get any excersise, they are locked into their computers and tv's in their bedrooms. At least if young people are together on the streets they are socialising, they are learning communication and social skills, they are learning about friendship and feeling part of a group. I for one would rather have them outside in an evening being part of a group than stuck at home on a computer - what do others think?
[ i wonder if there are any ex members of the FMM on here] ? |
| anne.w | I see both side's to the under age drinking debate, i too remember sitting on the old market with my bottle of cider (yuk) 15yrs old, but now as a mum of 3 children the youngest now 19yrs old, who one night when he was 15yrs old he was with a gang of friends getting drunk, i don't know to this day who supplied the alchohol, he can't remember, maybe a blessing for the person who did, he was bet he couldn't down a bottle of cider in one go, bear in mind he was well gone by now, so he did,i know he didn't have to, but after a few you tend to get brave, the result he collapsed, one of the lads had the sence to call for a ambulance, he was taken to chorley hospital then on to Preston, he had alcohol poisoning, he was hooked up to machines ect, and i can tell you we was so scared we thought at one point we were going to lose him, he was lucky , he lived to tell the tale, so if you had to ask me where i would have liked my son to be that night, i would have to say as many would, if they had seen one of there children as we saw our's that night, at home on his computer.!!!!!!!
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| steve.w | anne - fair comment i can imagine that was a real scare. thankfully he was ok.
i just think stopping them drinking on the streets where they are visable wont neccesarily stop them drinking. it will just move them on.
in stockport a few years back they had a clampdown on glue sniffing and put all the local stockists under pressure not to sell glue to young people to did a similair street clearing campaign. deprived of their drug they started buying areosols instead. one young man ended up with his mate in a disused building by the canal. he used the gas - it froze his lungs he was struggling for breath and they were a good mile from all main roads. result one young man dead. a tragedy. and in my opinion an example of ill thought through public policy. |
| William R | As a golden oldie, or silver surfer, or whatever, I have read the previous posts and thought back to long ago, when I was the same age.We used to start at The Roebuck, go to the Ship Inn, call at the Seven Stars and go and sit on the market stalls and generally "misbehave". This was in the days before canned drinks, or Supermarkets , and in strict licensing hours. We hadn`t been sat long on the market stalls in Water Street when the stawarts of law and order - Sergeants Pollitt and Turner turned up to remonstrate with us. Not for them the P.C. approach of today, but a flailing rolled up policeman`s cape, used like a Samurai sword and woe betide you if they hit you, this was the law, and you respected it. We did not return to goad them into further action, but quietly dispersed to our other haunts, muttering about how lucky or unlucky we had been. Threats from the law of "We know who your father is" did the trick - with the dreaded visit of one of the worthy`s to our home with "Did you know where your son was on Saturday" as an introduction. They always found us. Parental control counted in those days, that is what should be re-instated now, but sadly the do-gooders of this world stand on the side of the guilty and berate those who complain for being intolerant, and call for Human Rights to act. I`m afraid its here to stay, you can drive it underground, but it wont go away, it will just carry on as though it never happened. We were always careful the next time we went out, but we never stopped, and now complain loudest of all at the young of today. We, you and I, are the guilty ones for allowing it to happen in the first place. I could go much further into this, but will stop there, but any who were teenagers during the War, think back to how YOU were...... William R.
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| anne.w | I hope i didn't offend any one with my veiws, but when you see your child fighting for there life, it leaves a mark, i agree there is nothing for them to do, we had coffee bar's and youth club's, i asked my son about where his friends used to get there drink from when they were under age, and he told me some of the parent's got it for them, i couldn't belive it, but it was true, it seemed as long as they were out from under there feet they didn't mind, and if told what there child was up to, the responce was oh no not my child, he/she wouldn't do that, the fact is they don't know, i didn't and it nearly cost him his life, how guilty did i feel, i feel lucky my son survived,
Anne |
| steve.w | anne
you certainly didnt offend me with your views. having been through what you did with your son would make anyone pleased to have him home in front of the computer. I wasn't trying to dismiss what you said in anyway, i was just pointing out that often the response to such incidents by policy makers ill thought out and can cause more harm than good.
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| noel | I've had a near scare with all three of my sons Anne. Thank god not as severe as yours. It's strange how parents won't own up to their parental responsibilities. I'm glad you had a happy ending. Let's hope it's a lesson learned. I think if alcohol was just being introduced to us it would be a category a banned drug. |
| Spitfire | I can`t argue with any of the preceeding posts. Lax parenting and the dreaded `do-gooder` are chiefly to blame for todays state of afairs. It`s an unfortunate fact that there is absolutly nothing on this earth that we can do about it. If you approach drink-fueled (or even sober)teenagers today, you are either told where to go or assaulted. Should you be so foolish as to simply touch any of them, you would be in court for either physical or sexual abuse before your feet could touch the ground. It`s a grim senario, but if somebody could please point out to me why they think my views are wrong, I`d be delighted to hear from them. |
| LDunlop76 | quote:
Originally posted by steve.w
[br At least if young people are together on the streets they are socialising, they are learning communication and social skills, they are learning about friendship and feeling part of a group.
Steve, I wouldn't feel angry about young people congregating on the street if that was all they were doing. Unfortunately once they're under the influence of more drink than they're capable of handling, their behaviour moves on from socialising to the anti-social. Last year our neighbourhood was selected as the meeting point for a loud-mouthed group of teens and we were subject to alcopop bottles thrown into our gardens, along with fag packets, food wrappers, sanitary protection and condoms (lovely!), branches being torn off trees and the cats who live over the road had stones thrown at them. When I remonstrated with the kids I got the porch egged for my trouble. Elderly neighbours were too frightened to go out in the evening.
That group has grown up or moved on of late, but in the next road the bus stop is regularly smashed up and on Bonfire Night the local post box was torched - one wonders how the senders of cheques and birthday greetings feel, having their mail burnt up? Police have had a clamp down, but it only moves the problem elsewhere.
I have no objection to teenagers having a social life - I have two teenagers myself - but I do think they should be brought up to behave well and respect other people's property. |
| anne.w | i don't remember seeing the agression that is about today with the youth after having a drink, as to when i was a teenager, (not that long ago) i know who am i trying to kid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we used to just be a bit silly, not destructive and abusive |