Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Mindless violence
I moved to the area in the June of last year with my boyfriend (we live on Clyde Circus) and since then have had no issues whatsoever, up until yesterday afternoon.
I was on my way back from the shops on my bike, cycling down Jansons Road. I passed a group of about 10 black youths, aged between about 12-14. I was just letting myself into the house when I felt something hit me. I looked around and several of the group were throwing stones at me. I let myself into the house and closed the door, just in time for one of the windows in our front door to be smashed.
I rung the police and they came round and took a statement. They were very nice but there wasn't much else they could do. I was quite shaken and very taken aback; I've never known this kind of totally mindless violence before.
I was thinking of writing to a few of the schools in the area (I assume the boys are local) and informing them about what happened; do people think that's a good idea or should I just leave it in the hands of the police?
Thanks :)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gerry Platt on
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Why not "...I passed a group of about 10 youths", I don't see what race has to do with it, you didn't mention if they were male or female; understandably as it's not relevant to your request for advice. Neither is race.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not unsympathetic, I would not like that to have happened to me.
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Permalink Reply by ElleCarumba on
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Sorry to hear that Alex.
I think that as it happened on a Sunday afternoon, the schools might not be able to do much even if they wanted to. If they were in school uniform or on the way to and from school, they might have some authority to investigate but not sure their remit would extend to the weekends.
PS Gerry. "Youths" tend to refer to a male in late adolescence at least according to my dictionary, so she did mention gender. It also refers to age. So does that make it ageist and sexist as well then? A description of criminals tends to be useful for neighbours who may have also encountered trouble and allow people/police to spot patterns.
The "Sighting of two men acting suspiciously along the New River" post also includes the race of the suspects in the story.
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Permalink Reply by JB on
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i agree Jessica - i was about to write something similar.
Alex - I hope you are ok, the incident sounds really shocking. Thanks for updating us and making us aware.
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Permalink Reply by Tina on
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Yes hope you are ok Alex - horrible incident.
Like other responses I believe it is pertinent to say the group was composed of black youths, as long as a similar group of white youths would be described as such. I hope we have now got beyond the old assumptions that if someone's race was not described, they were white and that it is racist to mention someone is black.
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I do feel humbled by all the posts here. Firstly, I've learned something as before I was unaware that "youths" applied only to males. With this in mind; the point I made was severely diluted!
I admit that I was in two minds about posting on this thread but I decided that there was something that needed saying, I appreciate all the responses as they remind me that the issue is far more nuanced than you would think from reading my first post. Hugh, I think you are right, the discussion belongs elsewhere.
neiltingley, I would not whithold information from the police but this was a forum, not a statement to plod!
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I'm sorry this has happened to you ALex. Hope you are ok now.
Unless the people where wearing school uniform (unlikely) I don't think there is anything to be gained from contacting local schools .I'd leave it to the police tbh.
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Permalink Reply by Claudia Clare on
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Alex, this sounds ghastly. I dont think schools would be able to help and it's not really either their problem or their area of expertise, I'm wondering if austerity-services-cut-to-the-bone Haringey still has a youth offending team or a badly-behaved kids forum or something - actually that is an area that schools are concerned with, come to think of it. Although they wont be able to identify people, it may be that a youth team of some sort might at least want to know and could raise the issue with their charges, in a 'we do know about this kind of behaviour/ activity and it's not ok, and it's FANTASTICALLY dangerous,' sort of way. Are you thinking that the police will just quietly file it away and forget about it? Cos that's what I'm thinking, esp since sounds like they were young - children, technically. Haringey Play Association, which as its name suggests is primarily about providing play services for youngsters, have people on their staff with vast experience in this sort of thing. It may be worth contacting them, to see if they can advise you, or if they know of anyone who can. They do sometimes work with older children. I'm guessing that you'd at least want to know that someone somewhere, apart from just you, is a) bothered and b) wont just forget about it but will recognise the impact this has had on you, and that there is potential danger for others and that 'something needs to be done!' I'm trying not to sound too much like Mrs. Cul-de-Sac here ;) Well, for what it's worth, try HPA:
http://www.haringey-play.org.uk/index.html Try Cathy O'leary. If she's who I think she is, then she is v. experienced working with 'kids with challenging behaviour.'
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