Indo Article on Schooligans

**Finlay Harp** · 20/03/2008, 7:49 PM

Society in general is falling down in a big way. Probably not helped by the government/EU by making all these civil rights laws. I know they are there to help people but more often than not the victim is usually the looser. Take for example if someone breaks into your house in the middle of the night. You wake up to be greeted by a thug coming up your stairs and you hit him a punch in the mouth and he falls downstairs. Next thing you know the Guards arrive and you are lifted for assaulting the poor chap that was there to steal your car and do God knows what to your family! Same with the kids at the games. They know every right they have and if anyone touches them or even says something out of turn they are away to the authorities and you are at fault. I once heard a gang of girls that were wrecking a middle aged guys fence that if he came near them they would tell the police he abused them. Thats just wrong. Unfortunately we live in an era where there is no fear of authority. In fact let me rephrase that. Decent people fear the authorities but those that are causing the trouble dont. If that cant be sorted out I dont know what way the world is going to go!

**Only1Rovers** · 20/03/2008, 7:54 PM

Daniel McDonald on Newstalk talking about this now....

**onceahoop** · 20/03/2008, 11:25 PM

Originally Posted by Magicme

They dont give a **** about authority because they were never shown any. I am heading into the hardest years of my life now with a 13yr old son and a 10 yr old hot on his heels but I am fairly confident that because, from the moment they were born, I have been the authority and they have to respect that.

I have only to give my kids a certain look or say their name in a certain manner and they will behave. I have never hit my kids and dont believe in it but they have been shown clear boundaries since they were tiny and now understand if they step outside those limits they will not like the consequences.

Respect is taught from tiny baby up and if parents cant be bothered to do that then they shouldnt have kids. My sons know that if either of them ever got into trouble they will lose all priveleges. PS3, football camps, sky tv, internet access etc are all priveleges not rights and they know it.

As for living in a bad area with kids, I loved my kids enough to give up the best job I ever had, the best social life I ever had and move back to Monaghan to bring them up where I know they are safer and less likely to fall in with a "bad" crowd. My eldest goes to non-alcoholic discos but only if I drive him there and collect him.

I am scared stiff of the next 8 years but I am totally committed to bringing us all through them and any parent that isnt should be ashamed of themselves.

Don't worry Magic. Sounds like you're doing a great job. As the father of an 18 year old daughter I know the pitfalls. Thankfully she turned out ok. She was taughtt right from wrong at an early age. Growing up in a village, everyone knew each other, yet she and her close friends despised those who resorted to the so called "knacker drinking". She plays Gaa and has won two championship medals and is now playing senior football (I could never get her to play soccer). Keep them occcupied and playing sport or involved in a hobby. Don't mind this crap of making them study every free minute in the race for points.

We also have about 80 nieces and nephews in our immediate family and there's only one of them who's gone wrong and yet his brother and sister are extremely successfull in their own fields. All you can hope for is that you've taught them right from wrong and that they'll remember that as they go through life.

Molaidh na n'og agus tiocfaidh siad ( with apologies to any gaelgoers)

**Rovers fan** · 21/03/2008, 12:21 AM

Originally Posted by onceahoop

Molaidh na n'og agus tiocfaidh siad ( with apologies to any gaelgoers)

mol an oige agus tiocfaidh si. clearly you weren't taught too well!!

**deecay** · 21/03/2008, 12:31 AM

Originally Posted by onceahoop

Molaidh na n'og agus tiocfaidh siad ( with apologies to any gaelgoers)

Apology accepted

**bennocelt** · 21/03/2008, 7:46 AM

Think it has to do with a lot of different causes really. Bad parenting, modern ireland and its drive for money above all else, social degradation (see the schools last week on RTE - teaching in cloak rooms), modern celeb obessed society, lack of moral leadership from above, etc

Wonder do kids read books these days. I mean there is a lot of bad parenting, and it seems a lot of kids just watch tv and go on the computer in their rooms and thats their homework for the day. Creating a society with a very short tempered attention span. I mean everything seems to be dumbed down nowadays, peopledont seem to think and reflect

When i was in asia travelling i was struck at how parents and children there really valued education and learning. Its no wonder that countries like China, India, Korea are the future. parents here just leave the responsibilitiy of bringing up their kids to teachers and the government, ie a cop out

I sometimes despair for this country

**Erstwhile B�z** · 21/03/2008, 4:27 PM

Originally Posted by Rovers fan

mol an oige agus tiocfaidh si. clearly you weren't taught too well!!

Buail sa t�in � agus titfidh s�

**corkharps** · 21/03/2008, 9:07 PM

Is this a Joe Duffy thread?

**twowheelsonly** · 22/03/2008, 12:08 AM

I have two sons 18 and 21. Both were reared by the same parents in the same house on the same street and given the same food, same discipline, same educational opportunities same just about everything. One went to College to do Computer Science, the other went to Jail for stealing cars, doing drugs and being a general ****-artist etc.
I don't consider myself or my wife to be bad parents. We've done our best for all our kids, (Have 2 daughters 16 & 13 as well) we work hard in decent enough jobs and we don't spend our lives in the pub getting ****ed.
Thank God, (Fingers crossed) the 'bad' one seems to be snapping out of it now, only time will tell how he works out but I can tell you that our hearts have been broken by this despite years of cajoling, warning, threatening and entertaining him.
If the genius with all the answers posts on here I'd love if he got in contact with me to let me know where we went wrong.
Rant over..............

**pete** · 22/03/2008, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by corkharps

Is this a Joe Duffy thread?

Yes.

We have corkharps on the line. How does that make you feel?

**dcfcsteve** · 22/03/2008, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by RonnieB

....devoted their time to raising both me and my brother in a good decent environment.

But I thought you were from Longford....?

**Da Real Rover** · 22/03/2008, 3:23 PM

Originally Posted by Wangball

I agree with EB insofar as I come from an area that wouldn't be the best regarded & I went to school that has a reputation thats nothing short of notorious (more people in my yeard went on to prison for drug/gang things than went on to 3rd level education) the school & area was quite a broad mix of normal hard working successful folk & scum of the earth toerags & I can tell you that not all of the guys that went to jail were from the bad side of the area - each one was a victim of their own circumstances - some had bad parents, some didn't some may of went to church , some didn't (I'm pretty sure this didn't contribute though) fact is its impossible to apply blanket reasoning as to why people turn out the way they do - some of those schooligans may be from disadvantaged area's, some may have neglectful parents & some may be trainee sociopaths, they're all the products of their own individual circumstances rather than their being one big super reason for why these kids behave like savages (i.e. they don't go to confession anymore - how stupid a concept is that?)

Most amount of sense thats been spoken on this thread.
TBH people do not know what goes on behind closed doors, and are in no place to judge parents or their children until they know the full story, not just what they see.
You speak of these kids that are obviously off the rails and enjoy nothing more than anti-social behaviour etc and brand them as 'dogs' or many other colourfull words. So many of these kids are a product of their environment and nothing more.
I know kids that have grown up watching their father beat seven colours of sh!te out of their mother, do coke, smack etc infront of them, where their father sells the furniture in the house to feed his habit, even robbing his own kids communion money.
One of the worst cases ive ever come across was where the father would beat the mother after a feed of drink and even witnessed her own father rape her mother.
These are just cases I know of when ive gotten to know these people very well, its not like its common knowledge in the estate or anything. Now would someone please tell me how you are ment to be a fine upstanding citizen like yourselves after a childhood like that. They way I look at it is that with cases like this, when society doesnt help you you will hurt society.
You may dismiss these cases as extremely rare but believe me that domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse are far more prevelant in society than you would think.
As for the comment on facilities. The facilities in the town are dire, especially around the estates. Like in the estate near me the council even bought the green so as to build more houses on it.