So called nuisence kids.

[Digsyboy]

Originally Posted by Mattylad

Can I ask a "such as" ??

All the parks are closed, the public amenitites have been removed, paid facilities costs are horrendous, the councils just do not want to know when it comes to providing our youth with something to do.

So what is there that they have that you did not?

And before you answer that, think of what you did have that they have not got.

As a father of 3 I see bugger all for mine to do that does not involve a long trip & loadsa dosh.

We had Scott Park and that was It!
The town centre was a dump (didn't even have MaccyD til I was 15)
We had the Derelict ABC cinema (or was it 1,2,3?)
There was no kid orientated pubs, just places like The Borough
No Bowling Alleys
Oh, and Thompson Centre (which is still there)

Now if Scott Park is closed down fair enough, but we had no social centres, and places like youth centres. We used to play out until dark then go home. I remember spending ages burning your name into an ice-lolly stick with a magnifying glass - AND IT WAS FUN

Nowadays, if you aint got a Playstation, PC, latest mobile phone, latest branded clothes etc etc, then you are a poor underpriviliged mite - my ****. Some kids (and some parents) don't know the meaning of cheap fun now-a-days - we had nowt,but we were happy!

God help me for saying this but - KIDS DON'T KNOW THEY ARE BORN THES DAYS"
Oh, we also had Picadilly play Park too - a load of concrete with one great big slide - ooh the ammenities
AND we had the courtesy to leave all the bus shelters for todays yobs to smash up too

[dellym]

we also had nothing..i lived on glen view in my teens and we'd walk the streets or gather on the park on reynolds st. We were bored stiff but we didnt create havoc!!

[Digsyboy]

Exactly

So forgive me for thinking, kids do have it a damn lot better than we did )and certainly more so than my mum and dad ever did)
They just don't know it cos they are too busy bleatin about how hard done by they are, and using it as an excuse to be down-right anti-social and gittish

[Mattylad]

oh well, I'll tell em to get a magnifying glass.
Should keep em busy for 5 mins a year when we have some sun.

Things are not as they used to be, what kids find entertaining these days is not what we used to find entertaining. Scott park is still there but it has become somewhere that druggies & pervs go so many keep away from it.

There are swings etc in the park but these are limited to younger age groups or you get kicked off (rightly so).

The Town centre is still a dump & any kids that go there to hang around would soon find themselves cleared off by the police.

The derelict cinema? you mean you went into a derelect building? that's called trespassing these days.
Or are you saying you went to the flicks? costs £4.50 a time these days.
The Bowling alley costs £7, the Thompson centre costs more than you used to pay too.

You can make endless lists of "amenities" that you used to have they have all either fell into disrepair due to neglect, been taken away or are now very expensive.
If they find a nice paved area to skateboard (I remember doing that) they just get into trouble for trying to have some peaceful fun.
Building a skateboard park miles out of town is useless, the other one costs a heck of a lot.

Don't think I'm sticking up for these little thugs, I have no intention of that.
It's just that I can see that on miserable evenings like these there is nowt to do but wander the streets. Albiet they shouldnt be causing the grief that they do.

Bring back national service & make the younger ones join the Scouts I say :D

[Col.Kurtz]

Me and my mates used to always be out on our BMX's, whether it was on Barden track (now fenced off) getting chased by parkies or irate runners, back of Barden school using builder's boards for ramps, building our own track behind the petrol station on Eastern Avenue and riding the dumped concrete in the cement works - all highly illegal, but we weren't out to make trouble or cause damage.
Building sites were always good for exploring, when they had scaffolding up on St Andrew's church we climbed up that (because it was there). The difference today is the kid's parents don't give a damn, so they go a lot further than we did by destroying anything they come across with no repercussions if they are caught.

[Digsyboy]

Don't remember saying I went trespassing in cinemas?!
The cinema is now (or was) derelict. When I was young that cinema was never open long and when it was, the screen had a huge rip down it, the seats were knackered and you could hear rats in the walls - classy - and it wasn't free either
I aint suggesting things are cheap nowadays, but there is a hell of a lot more to do than I was a kid - FACT
We used to skateboard and play out on our bikes, but we were never yobbish, abusive or destructive. There were only TWO children at my school who could be accused of that - Mark McConaghie and some other deadhead I ain't gonna waste time thinkin about. ALL the other kids were at worse, mischievous e.g) played knock and run. Even then, they were respectful of their elders.
How many kids now-a-days get up on the bus for an elderly person or woman? Some do, but not many. I still do - it's called manners.
Whats worse, if a kid didn't get up, they would get told to by an adult - quite rightly. How many adults would do that now? Not many, because they know they would get a load of lip (or worse)
I am not having a go at kids, some are well-behaved and good-mannered. Unfortunately, they are a dying breed now-a-days - WHAT A SHAME

[grannyclaret]

well said digsy ,,and i am not biased ,,,every word of it is true ..

[Col.Kurtz]

I used to go in that cinema when it was on it's last legs, the lamp in the projector went once in the middle of a zombie film They didn't have a spare so we got passes for another time. Think we ended up in The Broadswords

[wayneyboy1942]

The Broadsowrds, I used to have a drink in there sometimes Col, it got closed down as well. At one time we had to go to Nelson or Brierfield if we wanted to see a film. I feel like I'm 70! EEEE when I was a lad..... :yelrotflm

[Digsyboy]

Never went in the Broadswords - too young
Went in Churchills though - well classy :)

[Mattylad]

It's a barbers now, I remember having a few pints in there on CB eyeball meets etc.

Even applied for a job at the cinema that was near it.

But if you say that it's a fact that kids have more to do these days can you please identify what more there is?
Everything that you all mention that you did is a lot harder for them to do.

If my kids want to go skateboarding at the free skate park it means a long trip, and when they get there, it's full of bigger lads hogging it.Doing it anywhere else just gets them moved on as they are thought of being a nuisance. Of course they can pay £5 an hour at intrapark if they want.

If they want to play on thier bikes, yes they can do that. Well only until some bloke comes up & pinches it off of them.
My youngest is too scared to go out on his bike because he had other kids threaten to take it off of him (right in front of me too).

Many kids these days are certainly horrid little thugs & cause mayhem on the streets, but I do not agree with you that they have more to do than when you were younger (unless they want to pay a lot for it).

BTW, my kid's don't go out on the streets causing mayhem.

[Col.Kurtz]

I wasn't saying it's easier for kids to find something to do nowadays because I'm not in touch with that sort of thing, I was just wallowing in a bit of nostalgia :) . From personnal experience though, Youth clubs are good for keeping kids occupied and out of trouble. Me and my brother used to go to Burnley Boys Club all the time for football, snooker, table tennis, discos, handicrafts etc..., and if we weren't there we were making something for the competitions they had, sponsored walks, Adventure weekends, Gala days etc...
The staff down there were great, and if you stepped out of line you got a 'neckwarmer' - but I suppose all that will have gone now!
We used to walk down as it wasn't very far, so Im suppose we were lucky, but driving your kids down a couple of nights a week would be well worth it.
Have you thought about some kind of self defence type classes or boxing for your lads? I know I would want my kids to be able to defend themselves these days, and have them taught some kind of self restraint techniques so they don't go the other way and turn into bullies.

[grannyclaret]

i suppose i have to put my hand up too ,,i have to admit there was more organised things to do even if they were free ,,i went to st matthews youth club and i was in the girl guides as well once ,then there was a large thriving youth club at sandygate though i diddent go there ,and hargher clough rec where the factory,s played each other at football (gosh what crowds they got ),but i truely cant remember anyone being yobish in those days.

[Mattylad]

Oh there were yob then too... must have been.

We always think of it being better when we were young, for instance parents now fear letting thier kids go ut for fear of them being abducted & killed etc. Only thing is it happens just as often now as it did then, it's just it gets reported better now.

From the age of 9 I used to cycle for miles & miles, I knew the whole island I lived on like the back of my hand & often used to cycle to Southend/London etc.
Even if I still lived there I would not dare let my kids do that now unless they were with an organised group. Myself I wont cycle on the roads, it's too dangerous.

Yes the youth clubs dissappeared, funding went & so did youth clubs.
One has recently shut down next to Gannow baths (that shut down too).
The Cub Scouts that I have been a leader of for the past 3 years struggles for both funding & assistance. What we can & cannot do has changed greatly.

There is a youth club setup in the town centre, but that's a long way to go for some.

Still doesnt excuse yobbish behaviour though.
Must be the parent fault. :D