Noel Tonna
Budding dangerous thugs
Iwonder what is going on with the youngsters in this country and with the judiciary system! Only a few weeks ago, a gang of youngsters who had been binge drinking and, possibly, also on drugs, wreaked havoc in the street where I live in San Ġwann, damaging a large number of cars. They also damaged the garden in the street behind us. Nothing has been heard about this, no mention or updates by the police.
Then, on January 22, we got a message that our son, a friend and his best friend were attacked by a mob of six or seven youngsters. Needless to say, with six persons against one, our son ended up in hospital with bruises and cuts.
This was an attack by frustrated teenagers on boys their age sitting on a bench quietly enjoying the evening at the children’s playground in Sliema next to the Tower. People saw this happen and no one went to see if they needed any help or to stop this vicious attack.
Is this the fault of parents or guardians? Is this the fault of the children themselves? What if next time somebody gets stabbed? One of the assailants, I was told, had previous warnings for carrying a knife.
One of them boasted over the internet to a friend of how he beat up our son and what he did to him. It was also overheard that they were planning to look up our son and his two friends again to attack them the second time.
The incident was reported to the police but, as usual, when you go back and try to find out what is happening you never get satisfaction from anyone at the station. We don’t even know whether these boys were taken in for questioning.
In this country, as in others, I would think, minors cannot be arraigned for such misbehaviour. So what now? Can they just keep on assaulting every Tom, Dick and Harry they see in the knowledge that they can get away with anything? Who will be the next victim, a pregnant woman, an elderly person, children – your children – your elderly parents or your pregnant wife?
Only a few days ago we read that a young teenage girl was assaulted and beaten up because of her sexual orientation. Are we witnessing a generation of hooligans and thugs? Do we blame them, their parents or society?
This cannot keep going on and on without anything being done. Perhaps fining their parents or guardians might help but youngsters who don’t care about physically abusing someone else are not going to care whether their parents or guardians pay money. They need to be thought a lesson.
If they cannot be placed in juvenile detention, then let them do civil duties, like cleaning up. While at it, let them also wear a uniform so that people will know who these culprits are and perhaps they may feel ashamed of what they did.
This could teach them to behave. If not in them, it might make others think before they do something irrational.
I am afraid that if these youngsters are not stopped today they may grow into criminals, perhaps murderers or rapists, and it won’t be just one or two, it would be a whole lot more.
Are we safe in this country? Well, speaking personally, I don’t feel safe and I feel that the police and the justice department are not doing enough to protect us.
I hope that the police will do something concrete this time and teach these thugs a lesson. We would like to feel safe both for our sake and for the sake of our children and the elderly.
Popular Stories
In Discussion
15 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
Lyn Avonwood
Feb 13th, 18:48
Its the parents! The issue is that as parents we follow the role models shown to us mostly unconciously.
How many Maltese parents still swear at their kids, beat them up and threaten them each time there is an issue. The children follow these examples to exert the place in society by means of violence. This is what their elders show them.
Go into any restaurant or coffeeshop and observe how many times children as little as 3-4 are exposed to behavioural discipline involving violence. Some still think its ok.
The children in turn only act out what they have been taught and observed its results. A person who is bullied and beaten up at home, needs to vent that out somewhere else, on someone smaller or weaker to have the same impact, as they cant act out against the parents
There needs to be an overhaul of education of the parents in the country before anything can be done with the kids.
Wenzu Vella
Feb 12th, 07:52
The word is “DISCIPLINE” and this starts from infancy. I am in my old age and when we were children we used to have discipline at home at school and in the streets. This used to teach us respect to others and property.
To-day this is no longer the norm because of the so called, the child protection laws. I am not advocating the whip or the big long stick that the headmaster used to have and you knew what was in store for you when you where sent to his office.
Normal discipline never hurt anyone except spoiled children and the delinquent uncivilized teen-agers EGO.
Franco Farrugia
Feb 11th, 09:53
It's a pity that we only put pen to paper and speak out when we see things directly ourselves, or when things hit US and not our neighbours!
A few years ago, I wrote in the papers about a group of bullies on the Sliema seafront who for no reason whasoever tried to kill - yes, kill is the word - an honest, law-abiding citizen, a colleague of mine, in front of his young wife and children. It happened on a summer's evening in the front, where many people were sitting down enjoying the breeze but who just didn't even lift a finger to help!
Mr Calafato is right: we reap what we sow. We, the Maltese, are changing, and not for the better. For the worse. Everything has become 'ok', as long as it brings a kind of laugh! Everything is permissible, starting from the families, onto the schools! And then, when something happens which is too close to home, we comment, we write about it, we complain, etc...
Noel Tonna
Feb 11th, 12:03
You are quite right and agree. It gets to me too that nobody says or lifts a finger to help others. We the so called Christians? How many people try to interfere when they hear 12 year olds and even younger swearing, cursing or perhaps even showing aggressive behaviour even with adults? Fortunately not everyone is thesame perhaps the minority are, there are good people too. Education must start at an early age and at home. Unfortunately with some families the problems increase rather than resolve themselves when the parents both go to work, when the stress level of the life they live becomes overloaded with worries of bills and personal grievances. Action by the authorities must be taken to try and diminish this problem if not eradicate it. The more complacent we become the worse the situation. Mr. Farrugia is right too, perhaps the parents of these thugs may say something or do something when they are in this kind of situation.
Jay Oatmon
Feb 11th, 07:10
Weak useless court judgements mean no deterrent - if they got even two weeks in jail and a criminal record they would think twice before doing this sort of thing.
Robert Calafato
Feb 10th, 14:53
We reap what we sow..... it can only get worse !
Alfred Brincat
Feb 10th, 14:24
I cannot agree more with the above. Today's youths are dreadful.Last week I took a bus to Valletta in which there were some guys from a school, presumably in Naxxar. They were unbearably rude using loud foul language for all to hear; playing very loud music on their mobiles annoying everyone around and were more disrespectful more than one could imagine. These are students - teenagers - being educated in our schools!!! I really couldn't take believe that this is the product being produced locally; our futrue generation and leaders!!! I pity those who have to bear with them
Leo Bartolo
Feb 10th, 12:42
In an article such as this one, I expect a statement from the police.
The author is 100% correct in his rational arguments.
So what is to be done. Create a committee for maintenance of justice and order in every town and village for summary punishment of crime carried out by these young criminals when processes of law are considered inadequate. Subsequently, such violence carried out by these bullies will soon be stopped.
Rod Enderby
Feb 10th, 12:36
What happened to teaching children about "responsibility" ?! There is a lot of talk these days about "rights" but "responsibility" goes hand in hand.
John Azzopoardi
Feb 10th, 11:41
What is going on is that the maltese judiciary system favors criminals not the innocent. Along with this are the hundreds of lawyers yearning for a job to protect the criminals.
Andy Farrugia
Feb 10th, 12:02
Well done for pointing this out. There seems to be something rotten about certain "varianti impazzite" in our judicial system, in the legal 'profession' as well as in the police force; and these characters seem to thrive and prosper by wallowing in the "swamps of iniquity" which breed all forms of criminal activities.
Franco Farrugia
Feb 11th, 09:56
I agree with you, Mr Azzopardi. This is especially so when such 'lawyers' make their way to Parliament and try to force their poor and bottom-pit values onto society at large by stamping their feet and demanding so-called 'reforms' in the laws we have, to improve their real profession and work.
Lina Caruana
Feb 10th, 11:30
Sincerely I feel that values have declined so much that violence and all kinds of misbehaviour are seen as normal by many. There is only one remedy to promote human values among children, and all workers who must prevent crimes instead of refusing to deal with them or even commit them sometimes. Thus we can be safe in a better society.
Andy Farrugia
Feb 10th, 11:28
I empathise with Mr Tonna's feelings; some people, aided and abetted by certain "bleeding heart " organisations and foundations, believe that they can do whatever they like and get away with it. They have no sense of respect for others, they have a violent and criminal mind-set and they believe that they are owed something by "whoever" . There is always some excuse for thuggish, anti-social behaviour and utter egotism; the most moronic being that "it is society's fault". As if "society" was some kind of amorphous villain that has dealt these jobs a cruel hand! The fault lies with people; some people are quite simply a threat to others. The authorities should come down hard on these losers and no-hopers who have no idea of what living in a civilised community is all about.
J Degabriele
Feb 10th, 10:21
You are right to feel as you do. Although obviously not all youngsters are like that, there seems to be a growing number of them. Nobody seems to be doing anything about it because they are young. But they actually are old in thought and vice. Age has nothing to do with how a person feels. There have been horrific murders committed by so-called youngsters. It'a always the fault of society. So what about the 'good' ones? Fault of society as well?