UK teenagers are awful

[Fedupwithteenagers24]

I live between two villages in the UK. Both have playgrounds aimed at under tens. Both are frequently trashed. Broken bottles left there overnight, stuff sprayed over the equipment. This has been particularly bad over the summer holidays. Currently in Germany. Loads of playgrounds, toys are left there anyone can use them. Nothing is vandalised. Why are things so bad in the UK? And before I get asked neither the UK venue or German one have any areas aimed at teenagers. But somehow the German ones don’t wreck their surroundings.

@Blueybanditbingochilli I am from a medium size midlands town and my husband is from a different medium size midlands town.
We visit both regularly.
Any damage/littering done in parks is mostly done by adults. Not teens. The teens don't hang out at 3am drinking beer and leaving their cans/bottles everywhere or their drug paraphernalia.
Both towns are a bit run down.
I don't understand all this "blame the teens" nonsense.

*I hate it when people say there is nothing for them to do. How about taking up a hobby? Play sports at rhe weekend? I have two teenagers and a 21 year old and it wouldn't occur to them to trash the local park, however bored they are.
However I have always let their fringe come and go freely so they as do some of their friends parents so they have a place to hang out socially. *

Maybe they haven’t got hobbies or don’t have the money for them or sports. Maybe their parents don’t have space for their friends to come & go? As a teenager I spent a lot of time hanging out in shopping centres/high streets as well as sports & friends houses. Shopping centres/high streets aren’t what they were though.

I actually feel quite sorry for the teens where we live. They have quite a hard time. Many don't come from very well-off homes, they go to "zero tolerance" schools with very strict uniform and behavioural policies, many spend up to 3-4 hours a day "commuting" to school and back (a bus, then train, then bus again isn't uncommon for a lot of them), there are frequent public transport delays and traffic jams and the schools do not tolerate lateness because the children "should have factored the possibility of delays into their journey and left earlier". I mean, I can see this viewpoint, but many of them are already getting up around 6 already. And they have hours of homework. The bus drivers chuck all of them off the bus at the first sign of trouble (or if the bus is too busy and there isn't space for all the adults) and I often here them moaning to each other as the doors close on them "that's another detention then!" They make being a teenager look like less fun than working tbh!

I don't understand all this "blame the teens" nonsense.

I don't have teen gangs trashing things. Adult men seem to think it’s fine to litter, throw things out the car window & I see a fair amount of older dog walkers who don’t scoop that poop.

There are still youth clubs where I live too (Scotland).

This doesn't happen in all of Scotland or all of the time.

Don’t think it was teens who chopped up a local toddler park with a reciprocating saw in the nice area.

I've had a similar experience with villages in the UK.

First one started ok and became awful after the local crop of new teenagers started harassing people, causing damage etc. This has become a real problem for residents but their parents don't care.

Second village is great. All children and teens (and adults) I've come across are pleasant and respectful, and the communal/play areas are clean and unmolested.

Something is different about the two, but I'm not certain precisely what.

"I don't understand all this "blame the teens" nonsense"

The teens in these areas grow up watching adult men (or women) trashing playgrounds and will be doing likewise and worse in a few years because nobody is doing anything to stop it.

It was an eye opener to think that Saturday jobs are a thing of the past in the UK.

Certainly not where we are! NW coast. Our youngest worked at Maccies from 17 all the way through uni. Our daughter worked in a bakery on Saturdays at 15, our son in law and his brother, both mechanical engineers now, were working in the care home across the way from 15.
It’s very common here where lots of kids can’t rely on bank of M&D.

Lack of respect in the U.K. There are films where vandalism is glamorised. Parents not teaching kids to respect eachother at a young age. Sense of entitlement. Right to shoplift. Drugs being taken, so many things and lack of police etc.

Violence is glamourised in films worldwide.

I live in England and you don't see it in my town. The teens I know are all working like mad to save money for going off to uni next month. The most popular job with GS and his friends is life guarding at local pools. Where else are 16 and 17 year olds going to get paid £12.50 an hour with as many hours as they want, this weekend Fri/Sat/Sun GS and his friend are running a local pool working 90 hrs between them. We have lots of pools as a holiday town with hotels/spas/local authority pools/holiday parks all needing them.

GS tells me any issues they have are with adults not teenagers and it is frequently mothers demanding that young children who can't swim are allowed into the pool. He has been called some choice names by these lovely women, fortunately he isn't intimidated and is quite laid back so doesn't let the kids be at risk or react to their foul mouthed mothers. He's in a holiday park so these aren't local people.

The kids who aren't strong enough swimmers to get their life guard qualification seem to be working delivering take away food but again working hard.

I can't remember the last time I saw graffiti and my town doesn't need a power washer.

The sad thing about our local playgrounds is that they are so underused but I guess most kids are on the beach or working. The playgrounds aren't vandalised, I walk past two of them when going to the shops and visit them if I have GS with me, my only moan is the gate to our local park has such strong hinges it is hard to open the gate, hold it open and get a buggy out but as problems go it isn't that bad.

@Needmorelego I agree about adults in some areas too- if you grow up seeing your family members throwing stuff down in the street, drinking in the street , shouting at each other in the street and generally behaving anti socially- you see it as the norm

Maybe living on the coast is the answer. I live in the south west and yes all the local kids are working, GS and his mates lifeguarding, some delivering for deliveroo or similar, one of the girls works in Costa and my neighbours granddaughter works in Sainsburys.

GS is off to uni next month and he already has work lined up for Christmas and next summer. I've never known such a hardworking bunch of teenagers and I'm in my70s so I've seen a few.

I don't know why people think kids can't get Saturday/part time jobs. Might vary by area but plenty of teenagers have part time jobs. I think newspaper delivery jobs have disappeared though.

I live in a seaside town in the south west, lots of deprivation but no trashed play grounds. Lots of kids working hard at jobs and school as they want to get away. Lots go off to uni and never come back.

Ageism on MN seems to be just fine if slagging of young people. Can you imagine if someone stated a thread saying pensioners are awful. Absolutely no chance that it wouldn't be taken down.
The UK really does hate it's young and treats them terribly.

@SlothOnARope a lot of teens local to me would be annoyed if adults trash the local playparks - because believe it or not they actually go there to play. Yes teens do still play.
There is a park near me that after school the local secondary school kids (so technically some are still pre teens but I'm talking about ages up to 15 or) go to. They go on those bucket swings, used the skateboard ramps, kick a ball around and use the exercise equipment.
The vast majority aren't going to grow up and suddenly start trashing stuff (it's a mystery why some people do though).

Kendodd · Today 11:05
Ageism on MN seems to be just fine if slagging of young people. Can you imagine if someone stated a thread saying pensioners are awful. Absolutely no chance that it wouldn't be taken down.
The UK really does hate it's young and treats them terribly.

It’s disgusting, isn’t it. I think many older people have forgotten what millions of teens willingly did to protect them not so long ago. Many are still living with the consequences.

What part of Scotland did you live in? My experience was that I found Glasgow and surrounding areas really bad for unruly teen behaviour on public transport, but I’ve also worked near Forfar and the teens and everyone else there were so polite in comparison.

But then just to add it’s not just teens behaving badly. Last time I was on a bus in Glasgow, I’d literally just got off the train from London and got on a bus to my friends house. It was packed and suddenly some 30 year old bloke at the back of the bus shouts down the bus to the guy at the front of the bus - “hey you, what ye looking at” this other man was clearly not looking at him so he was obviously just trying to start a fight.
The whole bus starts groaning and muttering “here we go again” lol I just remember thinking ah I’m back 😬😆

Ageism is bad on MN against the young and the old. The adults who have forgotten what it is like to be a kid and don't seem to realise they will be old one day are generally the ones being judgemental. I'm in my 70s and it certainly isn't me, I'm actually sick of the ageism.

Playgrounds in the 80s and 90s were awful- regularly vandalised and strewn with litter & graffiti and I didn't grow up in a "rough" area.

Blame the parents

Maybe because they’re given fuck all, shat upon 24/7 and have had all hope for their future snatched from them. I’m not saying Germany doesn’t have its political issues, but they certainly have more in place for the younger generation than here.

Anyway, despite all of the above, I find that most teenagers are great. It’s just the ones who aren’t so great who seem to have the most eyes on them.

It's the same in Ireland. Every playground gets trashed,burnt , vandalised etc. Lived in France for years, all playgrounds beautiful.