If you haven’t yet read Alastair Gossip’s recent piece on the goings on at Union Square, I suggest you do.
An insider who works at the Aberdeen shopping mall told us about gangs of youths running amok on a regular basis, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage and forcing parts of it to close.
The worker said Union Square was ‘the most hostile and dangerous place I have ever worked’.
It’s said that yobs are targeting Union Square on account of its ‘no touch’ security policy.
They don’t try it at the other shopping centres, as they’d ‘get their arms up their back and marched out’.
My generation seems to have been the last that knew there would be a fitting punishment should we step over the line.
The older generation might laugh and say that I and my fellow 90s kids were the start of the downfall.
But there’s no way we’d carry on like the Union Square louts and expect to get away with it.
Union Square yobs know they are untouchable
I’m not saying use physical violence against these teens, but if they know that they’re literally untouchable, where’s the deterrent?
Of course, throwing parties in the baby changing room is one thing. Or, actually, several things: self-centred, entitled, degenerate.
There are several words for that, none of which I can write in a family newspaper.
The P&J has been told that it ‘happens repeatedly’.
The trouble at Union Square follows complaints of repeated disorder on Union Street, St Nicholas Kirkyard and Union Terrace Gardens, among other hotspots.
So who’s to blame? And what do the good people of Aberdeen do about it?
Is a ‘lack of things to do’ really the problem?
Some readers pointed out a lack of affordable activities in Aberdeen, particularly with youth services being cut.
If smashing up shopping centres is a direct result of a lack of activities and entertainment for youths, I’m left scratching my head as to why such behaviour wasn’t more common in previous generations.
Some kids might not be able to afford certain activities, but I’m not sure I understand how that is a new phenomenon.
Your average family had less disposable income 25, 30 years ago. I don’t remember parts of the city effectively being no-go zones then.
There are any number of things you can point the finger at Aberdeen City Council for, but this isn’t one of them. Unless they are now responsible for our own kids?
Learning how to live with boredom and making your own fun is a fundamental part of childhood. Or at least, it was before this generation.
Every generation that’s ever lived complained of a lack of things to do in childhood.
My memory of my own youth is continually coming up with ways to stave off boredom.
Did I do things I’m not proud of? Of course.
But even as a selfish teenager, I’m pretty sure my conscience would have stepped in before trashing baby changing facilities.
Had I launched a shopping trolley at passers-by, my parents would have taken me to a psychologist.
Does free bus travel give kids the right to smash things up?
Other readers pointed out that young people’s brains are still developing.
As with the ‘lack of money’ and ‘nothing for kids to do’ arguments, that’s nothing new and yet here we are with gangs of youths threatening to take over the city centre.
Still others think free bus passes for youths are to blame.
The Young Scot card, which gives free bus travel across Scotland to under-22s, certainly makes it easier for kids to go into town.
But how that gives them the right to terrify people going about their job or simply their day is beyond me.
That said, having a ‘no touch’ security policy seems counter-productive in the extreme.
Perhaps Union Square will change tack when footfall starts dwindling and it starts losing money.
Indeed, I can only assume this is already the case. Are people going to drive from places like Elgin and Montrose to visit somewhere they might be intimidated, harassed or abused?
It’s clear Union Square itself could do its bit to help solve the problem. And no, it doesn’t look like the ‘patrol dogs’ are working.
Parental responsibility
But what about parents?
As is often the case with these things, quite a few are pointing the finger at parents.
Rather than take offence, part of me thinks they have a point.
When my oldest started secondary school, I spoke to an acquaintance with two kids at the same school.
I confessed I’d heard one or two bad things about the school, and wondered whether they could put my mind at rest.
They made a point which has stuck with me ever since.
They said: “There are two types of child.
“Those whose parents are engaged. And those whose parents aren’t.
“The first type are great. The second…”
The parents of the Union Square gangs – do they know what their kids are up to? Do they know where they are? Who they’re with? Do they care?
Parents can’t be held responsible for everything their children do. But the current outbreak of disorder in Aberdeen city centre is a societal problem which we can all do our bit to tackle.
Do nothing and it’ll get worse
Each generation seems to fall into the trap of blaming the youth for society’s ills.
There’s a lot of good in today’s younger generation.
Having interviewed hundreds of pupils, school leavers and students over the last few years as an education journalist, they’re usually more mature and articulate than I was at the same age.
Today’s youngsters are on the whole clever, hard-working, enterprising, forward-thinking and progressive.
With three kids of my own at various levels of schooling, I’ve no gripe with the youth per se.
But there is a nasty minority among today’s youth who are spoiling things for their peers and the rest of us.
Do nothing and it’ll get worse.
Calum Petrie is a father-of-three and writes features about schools, education, and family matters.
Conversation