It’s a typical Friday afternoon.
Do you know where your high school child is?
Hopefully he or she isn’t downtown causing trouble.
It seems that students hanging out around the Subway or near the Thompson and Butterfield Bank buildings have become a Friday afternoon tradition.
While there’s nothing inherently bad about kids hanging out together, there is something wrong when those students get into spats and even worse when someone is injured.
In one case boys wearing John Gray High School uniforms actually attacked a man, verbally and physically assaulting him.
The man lost consciousness in the attack and was transported to hospital. When he recovered, he found that $500 was missing and his cell phone had been destroyed.
The boys who did this were seen and can be identified.
The attackers are fortunate the man they assaulted didn’t die. If he had, they would be facing charges of killing a human.
In a separate incident a week later police had to intercept a group of 20-30 girls, also wearing school uniforms, who were seen shouting insults and pushing one another outside Elizabethan Square.
No arrests have been made in either incident, but all children involved can be identified.
Parents need to step up to the plate. They need to know where their children are at all times, what they’re doing and who they hang around with.
Not only could these children have gotten into real trouble – we would argue that the boys, if caught, are in real trouble – but if anyone is seriously injured they could file charges or demand compensation from the families of the students involved.
Some say the answer to the problem is to create after-school programmes.
We would argue there are already things for students to do after school. May we suggest the Key Club, Cadet Corps., Boys Scouts, Youth Flex or the Girls Brigade?
Short of that; parents, give your children something to do after school.
Having to do a few chores around the house never hurt anyone.
Daily chores and responsibilities are an important part of learning that life requires work, not just play.
We understand that kids want to hang with their peers, but when their presence creates a societal problem, something has to be done.
Parents, please take control of your children after school on Fridays. Don’t let it become a police or a courts issue.
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