Rise in Feral Gangs of Teenagers - Is this UK Wide?

[Feralgroups]

Are all areas of the UK seeing a rise in feral and uncontrollable gangs of teenagers - leading up to and particularly problematic last night (so-called "Mischief Night?")

Where I live this has been a growing problem in ALL areas of our county - both in affluent and less affluent areas.

I am particularly concerned as I am a key worker who is trying to shield as much as possible but will be having to continue to work with such groups who clearly are not.

In addition, it is as though they have finally realised the Police have no control over their numbers. They no longer even care that they are filmed and (rightly or wrongly) then plastered, faces uncovered, all over Social Media. They are even posting themselves, boasting about their exploits.

As far as I am concerned this is one of the biggest problems to arise during the COVID situation.

@LakieLady

Are you looking for a lodger?

That sounds awful @Feralgroups.

They should have lock-in night instead, anyone under 30 has to stay indoors.

I live in the North West, but hadn’t really been aware of this until I saw a report on local news aboutMischief Night a year or two ago. I was really shocked at what goes on in the Liverpool area. Definitely not just normal teenager behaviour at all. They showed a building site where thousands of pounds of damage had been done - it was housing for people with disabilities and Iirc it added a lot of time onto the completion.

My 16 ds has been attacked twice and mugged once in the last few months. I agree with op. The gang doing this are known to the police & they’re pushing my ds to take the gang members to court, but he’s terrified. We live in a very typical country town in the West Country. They’re threatening mums in the local park & goodness knows what else.

Dh has just said 8 buses were written off in lpool last year on mischief night. I remember having fireworks thrown at buses but again, 20 years since I lived there.

@LakieLady - Dispersal zones and curfews ARE set up and Police are actively patrolling the hotspots but still the groups are out in force and basically laugh in their faces then put it all over Social Media with no fear of any reprisal. It's just so awful and so mindless. I feel really, REALLY sorry for the Police. These groups are not scared of them at all. The Police are outnumbered and have very little power to do very much. I bet their hearts sink into their boots as they set off into these zones.

I lived in a town in the NW, and I recognise a lot of what you describe, Feralgroups
Moved to a village in the SE.
I sometimes compare the crime rates and breathe a sigh of relief.

Are these youths, young men? Not teenagers but teen boys? It poses me off that the sex of the violent and the thugs is omitted. The problem is young men. (And yes some young women are violent and abusive but the majority are men with testicles

It's not new, some areas on Tyneside were like this in the late 80s and early 90s. There were riots which made the media but they were just an amplification of the day to day situation.

Mischief night was something I'd never heard of until I lived in Merseyside.
Teenagers in the Wirral, Liverpool and further afirld absolutely feral.
Cars damaged, fireworks and eggs thrown at people.
Huge gangs, really terrifying.

I live in one of the poorest parts of London. Not as issue here as far as I can see. There are far scarier things that teens can get involved in here!

Maybe it’s a small town thing?

Having said how quiet it is, there now seems to be someone banging a drum or something out in the street.... and ghostly whooooing.

Where is mischief night on 30th October?
In Yorkshire it has always been on 4th November, although thankfully, it doesn't seem to be a thing these days.

@LakieLady

Having said how quiet it is, there now seems to be someone banging a drum or something out in the street.... and ghostly whooooing.

Dont worry thats Dominic Cummings summoning the mother ship

[quote Feralgroups]@LakieLady

Are you looking for a lodger? [/quote]
I could always clear out the spare room for you!

The going rate to rent a room round here is around £120pw.

@Feralgroups
I am not demonising "teenagers" as a whole. My question was whether there has been a dramatic rise in anti-social behaviour elsewhere in the Uk

Maybe you should have worded your post like that rather than talking about ‘feral teenagers’?

I live in an area where there has been a rise in asb, and yes, a lot of it does seem to involve teenagers. But using emotive words like feral does lean towards demonising an entire group, and leads to all in that group being tainted by association, as exemplified the the pp above who suggested anyone under 30 not be allowed out.

Is it just a Merseyside thing? I'm from Warrington (now live in East Anglia) and never heard of Mischief night while I was living there. I now see posts on a Widnes facebook page complaining about it but nothing from Warrington.

These particular teenagers are feral. My question still stands. Are any other areas experiencing feral behaviour from teenagers?

I have also been told I should have specifically mentioned gender but I'm not going there...

@ProfYaffle

www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/18836071.mischief-night-vehicle-tipped-roof-chapelford/

I am in a notoriously rough place in the North West and there’s been no upsurge here.

Are you the one that pops up with this doom and gloom every year?

We’re in the north wear too and it’s not like that around here. When we first moved to our village, someone put a post on the local FB group complaining about youths ‘loitering’ in the park. We went to the park one evening to find 1 group playing football, one playing rounders and a small group sharing a chippy tea on a picnic table 😂

In addition, it is as though they have finally realised the Police have no control over their numbers.

This seemed to have started in my town at the end of last year. Swarms of kids running riot every weekend. My friend was attacked by them. The police have no control. There are so many, they scatter and run rings round the police.

I live in an area that's fairly cut-off and has lots of bored teenagers. Not really had any issues with them. I admit they can be a bit indimidating, but generally they just hang around looking a bit sullen. According to the local FB page, they are roving gangs causing chaos and it's 'only a matter of time' before there's a stabbing.

We had a big spate of car vandalism last year. For a few months, people were getting their car windows smashed/paint thrown over cars and there was lots of anger about the 'bloody teenagers'. A middle aged man turned out to be behind the crime spree.

This is definitely the case in my town. It's ridiculous. Almost every derelict building in town has been burned down, most nights there are incidents with fireworks. A new favourite is putting lit fireworks in the dog bins several have been done over the last couple of weeks. Car vandalism has risen too. It doesn't help that our streetlights get turned off at 11pm to save the council money