What is there for teenagers to do in your area?

[YorkieBar]

I for one do not believe that teenage anti-social behaviour such as public drunkenness and flagrant littering can be excused or explained by the lack of public facilities, or by the fact that there are many grown-ups in this country who seem quite proud of the fact that they themselves engaged in some of those behaviours as teenagers.

Never said I was proud of the fact, just said that I did it, and that the pot won’t call the kettle black.

ah you can when your a parent

I am a parent

[Blindjustice]

I for one do not believe that teenage anti-social behaviour such as public drunkenness and flagrant littering can be excused or explained by the lack of public facilities, or by the fact that there are many grown-ups in this country who seem quite proud of the fact that they themselves engaged in some of those behaviours as teenagers.

Never said I was proud of the fact, just said that I did it, and that the pot won’t call the kettle black.

ah you can when your a parent

I am a parent

so your posts would suggest! knock yourself out calling the kettle black if you wish

[FirstBass]

Anyone that thinks its alright for children to consume alcohol quite franky has zero credibility.

Can you point out where that has been said, or what relevance it has to the main theme of the thread, ie What is there for teenagers to do in your area…

Well done on winning a moral argument that no one else started.

You said they drink the odd can and didn’t see problem with it. You are referring to 14 to 16 year olds.

You think that socialising cannot de separated from drinking from age 16 onwards

That’s a pretty clear link to it being accepted for children to drink, though I wouldn’t be as harsh on you as blown-in, it’s a cultural viewpoint, widely held.

[blown-in]

Absolutely yes it is a challenge to keep the kids off the bottle, no denying it.

[sharper1971]

…Incidentally, the various comments suggesting that ‘teenagers should have hobbies’…Most adults I know don’t have hobbies…or if they do, they are cursory and often involve some drinking (how many Golf clubs don’t have a bar, do the pubs fill up after a game in Lansdowne road etc).

That’s an interesting and telling point. If I think of the general run of my adult acquaintances, they have a pretty wide-ranging and active hobby life that do not involve alcohol consumption (and this includes acquaintances with kids of all ages): cycling, hiking, running, tennis, sailing, travel, painting, coaching kids at sport, and then there would be various popular and sedate hobbies people (in my circle at least) like to pursue at home, such as gardening, reading, cooking and so on. Sure, I and most of my acquaintances also enjoy a drink, but in moderation, at appropriate times, never as a substitute for a hobby, and always with careful consideration of role-modelling in the presence of children of any age.

But perhaps that is the exception. There is a tendency among many Irish people to believe that

• you can’t enjoy yourself without drinking
• if you don’t drink a lot of alcohol or get outright drunk regularly you’re boring/square (in spite of the obvious fact that drunks are the most boring people you’ll meet)
• non-drinking activities (such as playing a round of golf, getting together for a five-a-side match after work, or going to a restaurant for a nice meal) should be immediately followed by a bout of drinking, if they cannot actually be accompanied by the same.

If that’s the parental backdrop, it’s no wonder teenagers get out of control and into underage public drinking. Investing in amenities or activities for them won’t help. After all, if in spite of the widespread availability, accessibility and (in many cases) low cost of engaging in the above hobbies, most adults just don’t bother, why would their teenage offspring behave any differently if confronted with an array of options?

[nige]

I think its impractical to say that 16 year olds should not socialise on their own terms, within reason…they are old enough to get married after all,

Not without court permission, they’re not.

But I do agree with you otherwise.

[the_burbs]

I don’t believe that 16 year-olds should be routinely allowed socialise every evening after school if they’ve finished their homework etc by 8pm. They have already had quite a few social interactions at school. Let them eat cake until the week-end or arrange their week-end meets on Facebook! A tiny bit of deprivation might knock that Celtic Tiger sense of Entitlement out of them!

agreed. you dont go out on a school night. simples. sport, music, extra curricular stuff fine but socialising is not appropriate during the week. by the time a teen is finished all that, there’s no time for anything else mid week. I’m not that old but we weren’t even allowed out during term time, never mind mid week. And that was the norm.

I’m not sure what “things” there could be specifically for teens “to do”. By their nature they will scorn any organised club etc so just let them relax in each others houses etc. Most people I know have or aim to have a room / den in their house for kids / teens etc. Theres a large green area in front of our current house and we were anxious that it would be used for messing etc at weekends. Hasnt happened yet. I dont know what it is the teens round here do at the weekends, but outdoor drinking is not it. I suspect, its the same thing we did when we were that age; hang around in each others houses.

If I think of the general run of my adult acquaintances, they have a pretty wide-ranging and active hobby life that do not involve alcohol consumption (and this includes acquaintances with kids of all ages): cycling, hiking, running, tennis, sailing, travel, painting, coaching kids at sport, and then there would be various popular and sedate hobbies people (in my circle at least) like to pursue at home, such as gardening, reading, cooking and so on. Sure, I and most of my acquaintances also enjoy a drink, but in moderation, at appropriate times, never as a substitute for a hobby, and always with careful consideration of role-modelling in the presence of children of any age.

I also agree with this. I have boys, so I know its easier to get and keep them involved in sports. I think (anecdotally) that its easier to keep them away from alcohol if they are involved in sport. Its certainly the case amongst my friends and I.

[BuffaloSoldier]

Pity we built our properties smaller and smaller each year during the boom.

I can only assume that you haven’t been out the country in the past decade?

[TheEmigrant]

I have boys, so I know its easier to get and keep them involved in sports. I think (anecdotally) that its easier to keep them away from alcohol if they are involved in sport. Its certainly the case amongst my friends and I.

Apologies, but my pedantry can’t let that one go:
It should be “my friends and me” because you are dealing with objects and subjects.

[the_burbs]

I have boys, so I know its easier to get and keep them involved in sports. I think (anecdotally) that its easier to keep them away from alcohol if they are involved in sport. Its certainly the case amongst my friends and I

.
Apologies, but my pedantry can’t let that one go:
It should be “my friends and me” because you are dealing with objects and subjects.

yes you are right! posting on a phone is not good for my grammar cred.

[mr_anderson]

I have boys, so I know its easier to get and keep them involved in sports. I think (anecdotally) that its easier to keep them away from alcohol if they are involved in sport. Its certainly the case amongst my friends and I

.
Apologies, but my pedantry can’t let that one go:
It should be “my friends and me” because you are dealing with objects and subjects.

I bet I know which one you are

[slasher]

I have boys, so I know its easier to get and keep them involved in sports. I think (anecdotally) that its easier to keep them away from alcohol if they are involved in sport. Its certainly the case amongst my friends and I

.
Apologies, but my pedantry can’t let that one go:
It should be “my friends and me” because you are dealing with objects and subjects.

I didn’t notice that one - but, for example: “that was present from Wifey and I”/“Congratulations from Wifey and I” always draws an inward snigger at the pretentious fool saying it… Simple rule: “Does it make sense if you leave out the other person?”

I have to say this thread makes me want to move back out to the country. We never considered it our right to hang out with our friends on a school night. “But my homework is done” -“So you’ll be getting all As in your exams?” In any case it would have meant cycling to meet them and drinking cans was unheard of.

[YorkieBar]

I have to say this thread makes me want to move back out to the country. We never considered it our right to hang out with our friends on a school night. “But my homework is done” -“So you’ll be getting all As in your exams?” In any case it would have meant cycling to meet them and drinking cans was unheard of.

Funny enough I grew up in the country myself and did all of those things…not every night obviously…I thought it was normal enough (it was where I grew up)…not the drinking, but certainly meeting friends at evening time…

And yes, it did mean cycling to meet them; I never saw that as an obstacle though…

[blown-in]

I’d have given anything for a bicycle.

We walked the 5 miles to school and considered ourselves blessed to have shoes.

[slasher]

I have to say this thread makes me want to move back out to the country. We never considered it our right to hang out with our friends on a school night. “But my homework is done” -“So you’ll be getting all As in your exams?” In any case it would have meant cycling to meet them and drinking cans was unheard of.

Funny enough I grew up in the country myself and did all of those things…not every night obviously…I thought it was normal enough (it was where I grew up)…not the drinking, but certainly meeting friends at evening time…

And yes, it did mean cycling to meet them; I never saw that as an obstacle though…

yeah, I suppose it was more of a combination of country living and strict parenting!

[Maggie]

Well, two of them spent Saturday night defecating in my mother’s garden so I assume ‘not much’.

Also, if anyone has a solution for this that doesn’t involve electrodes (my favored solution) or buckets of iced water (my mother’s), I’d love to hear it in a P.M.

[mollie]

Video camera and Youtube?

[woger]

A comment in another thread got me thinking about this…

In my area, there is a bunchof teenagers that hangs out on street corners…they are all good kids, the play american football, they laugh a lot and slag each other off, they are polite to me…sometimes they get up to what I can only describe as stuff I would have done myself at their age…they drink a few cans, they leave their chip wrappers on the road, occasionally they might knock over a bin. They don’t fight, they don’t key cars, they don’t hassle anyone.

Older people in the area hate them with a venom, always giving out about them, neighbourhood meetings and so on. ** You would swear kicking a football against the church gates was the new organised crime the way these folks go on.** Guards have been called in for this sort of thing.

Obviously this is my point of view.

However, I do see how an elderly person living on their own could feel nervous of a bunch of teenagers hanging around the street corner. And I do see how an elderly person might take it upon themselves to come out and give out to these kids for being rowdy; and I also see how the teenagers will most likely tell the elderly person to go screw themselves in that situation…and how the elderly person may then call the police and so on and so forth.

But where am I going with this.
(i) there is abosolutely nothing for these teenagers to do, if they want to socialise with their peers, except meet up either on the street corner or in someones house…and the latter is an issue if its a big group.
(ii) they are doing exactly the same things I did as a teenager…

So I’m just wondering, is there anywhere…any suburb…where teenagers have options of places where they can socialise on their own terms with each other in a way that doesnt antagonise the neighbours …and I mean purely socialise…not rugby training or gaa…I’d be particularly thinking of the 14 to 17 age group.

And yet if they were sitting inside the same people would say go outside and kick a ball around.

[nige]

Well, two of them spent Saturday night defecating in my mother’s garden so I assume ‘not much’.

Also, if anyone has a solution for this that doesn’t involve electrodes (my favored solution) or buckets of iced water (my mother’s), I’d love to hear it in a P.M.

well if it took them all night, I’d recommend prune juice.

[idiottje]

Well, two of them spent Saturday night defecating in my mother’s garden so I assume ‘not much’.

Also, if anyone has a solution for this that doesn’t involve electrodes (my favored solution) or buckets of iced water (my mother’s), I’d love to hear it in a P.M.

The local kids used to sit on our wall, so every evening for a week, my father put Jayes Fluid on the top of the wall. Destroyed their trousers, and left a funky smell. In less than a week the kids never sat on the wall again. Kept dogs of of the garden also …