the corner office

Via Gauteng Blog, the Guardian has an interesting article about Anti-Social Behaviour Orders in the UK. In essence, miscreant children get ratted out by the neighbours, and limitations are placed on what they may do, or say, or where they can go, and while the 'asbo' is not itself a conviction, breaking the order renders the child liable to criminal prosecution.

I'm honestly not sure what to think about it. On the one hand, the civil liberty issues make me cringe, and the potential for abuse and victimisation must be huge. On the other hand, from a socially conservative South African perspective, the (supposed) misbehaviour and delinquency of British kids has reached mythical proportions. OK, I have to admit that the majority of Brits I've met (including family!) don't seem to have been too delinquent as young 'uns, but most of us know someone who's ended up teaching in UK schools and who can rattle off horror stories for hours on end. Draconian measures to curb that don't seem too unreasonable.

Anyhooo. I think the most telling part of the article (in part2), is the issue of family loyalty and good old-fashioned self-delusion:

"Zach call some woman a cripple? No! He'd never dream of it!"
"I did," Zach said, quietly. "She was horrible."
"These people!" His mother swept his words aside. "They can't let kids be kids, can they?"
"And I smashed the windows, yeah."
"Every kid smashes windows! He's a boy, isn't he? You know what, they're all dead talented, Zach and his mates. The way they MC and everything."

Well, surprise, surprise. You could debate why some parents are so defensive about their children's wrongdoings (I'm sure not wanting to admit you're a crap parent is one reason), but if parents don't have the courage or willingness to confront their children when they've done wrong (and heaven forbid, punish them), then no wonder their kids are screw-ups in the making. These children don't stand a chance.