to write to my local high school

[sunchild77]

and or local newspaper to complain about their students. (Makes me feel like a right old biddy)

The students of my local high school (in a large village, part of a city) are allowed out to the shops at lunchtime [humm] They usually go up to the local tesco, where they are let in one at a time.

1# They leave the biggest trail of litter all the way back to the school. There are bins and local environmental officers. Its really quite disgusting.

2# They walk around the streets (local residential area) in large groups wandering accross the road when I am driving past. I have noticed it 3 times this week. They do not stop walking to cross the road/check traffic.

Now Im not speeding at all its a housing area, so very max is 20mph. What really is pissing me off is their general attitude of insolence, the looks they give me. It seems to be "Go on ~ hit me, it will be your fault". Id be totally devestated if I were to hit a child. I have had to swerve to avoid them several times, drive around them etc.

Its making me mad! But writing a letter seems the only thing I can do, but makes me feel ancient, I was their age once. But I definitly didnt behave like them...
Thoughts please?

seems normal teenage behaviour. what exactly do you think call the school will achieve

I would contact the school, but not the local paper (why the paper?)

The school needs to know the behaviour of it's pupils is not too good during break time and they can tackle it (or at the very least adress it in assembly)

We live on one of the roads which is en-route to the local large comprehensive. A few years ago the behavious of some pupils walking past was awful (well no, not awful in the grand scheme of things but larking about, not paying attention to cars, kicking pebbles/gravel as they walked which hit passing cars etc) and we emailed the school's head teacher.
He emailed back saying he would adress in in assembly. We have never ever had another problem with the school children larking about. So it must have worked

southeast - reenforcing the road safety thingimijig for one thing. Like that awful advert where the pupil is on a mobile and does not watch when crossing the road...

It does not need to be a full on lecture, but a general 'be careful you are not invincible' type message should do the trick.

I would hope that the head would bring it up in assembly, Someone might get hurt by a not so considerate driver for one reason.

I must have been abnormal because I didnt behave like that.

maybe, round here we just watch out for them as we know what we were like!

Its not "not paying attention" its the general "I can do what I like, you'll suffer the consequences attitide.."

How awful it would be if I injured someone?

I suppose I was thinking about the local rag just because parents might read it... dunno.

I think the road thing is common. Just another aspect of I'll-do-what-I-like any-problems-are-not-my-responsibility. Round here they play chicken with the cars at home time, and sometimes push each other deliberately in front of cars.

As for what the school can do, not sure but I do think they should be told. When I was at school some locals complained about pupil behaviour at the bus stop so we had a teacher posted at the bus stop for a few days to sort us out!

I don't know that it will have all thatmuch of an an effect, but you should certainly write to the school. When I was at secondary school we had several assemblies where a letter of complaint was mentioned, and the head teacher promised dire consequences if behaviuor didn't change. The school will take it very seriously, even if the students don't, and that's all you can ask for really. If enough people like you write in and complain, perhaps they will stop the pupils going out at lunch. I do remember bans being placed on all but the sixth formers leaving the grounds within school hours (because they often had differnt lesson times and most of them had cars anyway), so it certainly can happen.

Sadly, I wouldn't expect the students to change their attitude on the roads. The arrogance of teenages can only be assuaged with age. I do know what you mean though. I was raised to look both ways and thank drivers who stop for me, and even now as a pedestrian the teenage 'go on, hit me I dare you' attitude really annoys me.

I'd write to the school and the local paper - as you say, hopefully some of the parents would see the paper and have a quiet word with their kids, and the school should be making sure that their pupils behave at lunchtime.

To be honest, I don't see why senior school pupils need to be allowed off the premises at lunchtime - we never were, when I was at school. We were allowed off campus when I went to the local sixth form college, but by then the majority were old enough to behave reasonably, plus there weren't as many of us.

The dses old High schools kept all the pupils except for the sixth formers on campus at lunchtime, but when we moved, the boys' new school allows all but the youngest children to wander off at lunchtime, into the village so they can buy rubbish at the co-op or the village shop or fill up with chips from the chippy every day - hardly part of a Healthy Schools policy, I'd have thought!

I don't live in the centre of the village, but I avoid the shops there at lunchtime when the children are going to be swarming round them, and I don't envy the people who do have to have these children wandering round every school day at lunchtime.

I'd give the school a try first. We had some problems with kids smoking after school, not moving out of way to let us past, litter, etc - neighbours all upset. I contacted the school and turns out they had a lady responsible for Community Liaision who was fantastic - even got me to pick out the culprit (later found out he got a week's suspension for swearing at me when I asked him to please move so could get past on footpath).

Write to the school first. I once sent an email to one of our local schools about the behaviour of their students on the bus (fighting, shouting, pushing etc) The next time I took that bus there was a policeman standing at the stop keeping them all in line.

I hate that attitude 'oh, they're just being normal teenagers'. We didn't behave like that because we weren't let, and we were normal teenagers.