Vandals
 

Some thugs have set fire to a bench and destroyed an area of greenery at the back of St. Mary's School, Ossy. This area was the kids outdoor classroom that throughout the year the children of the school use every week. They learn about wildlife and help to keep the area clean. These pathetic thugs have ruined a years good work done by the children (including my daughter) who all loved the area. If anyone knows anything about it or if they have any information about who could have done it please let me know.

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Is there no CCTV Gayle?

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No, it's all outdoor a little way away from the school. It's all hidden from view by the trees and bushes.

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i realy dont know where kids learn that it is ok to set fire to hard work that children have done

these peope are just as bad as the morons who shower the childrens play area with broken glass at the nursery next to glynn webb

plenty of times i have walked past to see the childrens play area covered in broken bottles and beer cans the staff there must have their work cut out making it safe for children to play on again

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Yes, they do. Up until recently my youngest was at that nursery so I know what you mean.

It makes you wonder what sort of mindless moron thinks it's funny to throw their bottle over a wall - no doubt when they're on their way home from the pub.

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nothing is sacred any more ,,the yobs have probably forgotten all about it ,and moved on to the next target ,,

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What is it? Lack of parental responsibility, failure of the education system or the courts? Personally I think it’s all three. It’s time we went back to the drawing board with social responsibility been the first issue to be debug of the last 30 years or so of political correctness. The softly, softly approach has led to indifference and a lack of respect. Maybe it time to treat these people to the realities of their actions and bring back the birch for extreme case’s and make Community Service into Community Labour with an isolation cell to look forward to at the end of the day.

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exactly.....we are too soft

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even if britain brought out such laws europe would over rule them

the european court of appeals seems nothing but a hinderence at times

british justice should be final

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I agree with you chav. Maybe we should spend more time considering the Human Rights of those children and the parents that have to deal with there disappointment. To do nothing is to aid and abet these b*****ds.

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Gail please be careful if you get any info as you have asked for it maybe better for folks to contact either the police directly or to ring crimestoppers I know it can be a pain getting through but at least they can report and nothing comes back at you and your family. maybe an edit on your opening thread to include crimestoppers phone number might help?

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Actually, that's a very good point. Though I'm sure that if anyone did have any information they'd have notified the police already.

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Sorry no info,but I believe this is the latest craze,Iv'e heared several tales of arson attacks around and about.Let's hope the culprits are caught before a tragedy occurs.
There was a skip set on fire the other day off Paradise St.the black smoke and flames scorched the outside of the flats there.Luckily the Fire Brigade arrived promptly and extinguished the blaze.
If a window had been open the toxic fumes would have killed anyone inside.
It is a very sorry state of affairs!

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a lot of whats been said is spot on its 100% lack of respect,that went out the window with the do-good brigade, no respect for authority,people,property,anything cos theres no real deterant,we wern't angels but if you got caught you got thumped off your dad,the local bobby,teacher,etc,and it sure as hell made you think twice!

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These kids consider it fun, because nothing is ,in their minds ,is provided for them to amuse themselves then they consider that it is acceptable for them to steal, assault, burn, damage or deface anything they see , in the name of amusement. In my mind it is a sign of a very low mentality. I'm sure a few pence from allthe members of Accy Web would buy them a new bench. I would be quite willing to donate...........

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Fireman, that an excellent gesture and I would be more than happy to join you. If Gayle wants to set something up or let us know of a collection point... I would also be happy to get my hands dirty one weekend if a few people want to get together and put things right?

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That's very kind of you both. I'll speak to the headmaster on Monday and see what he's planning to do about the repair work.

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Gayle, is the "outdoor classroom" not at the rear of the school, an area bounded by houses all round, apart from the small garden centre to the left, if so how have the vandals got in there without being spotted. Or is it another case of "no I did'nt see anything" from the residents adjacent to the school.
I would contribute though to help restore the feature.

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Theres fags on our playing field .Its horrible !!!!

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Park381 people bent things to get in our field .Maybe they did that ?
http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/i...cons/icon5.gif

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Well it is but it's also hidden by trees so once people are actually in the outdoor classroom they can't be seen. It is open for members of the community to use but as usual the young thugs have abused this.

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No one would actually know until it was too late.

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Then why not have an 8M lighting column installed as they are doing in the park, then all would be able to see the yobs. (sorry gayle had to get that one in) ;)
but as indicated in previous post, I would help to restore the feature.

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It's the trees that obscure the view. Can't imagine that anyone would agree to cutting the trees down.

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Good man parks your on my list. Cheers

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will help out with donation & hands too ian.

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Before we all get carried away with altruistic enthusiasm, has anyone considered the message that this might be sending to the arse-wipes who committed the vandalism in the first place? Namely; that it is not necessary to worry about the damage we cause because the adults will always club together to clear up after us.

Would our energies not be better expended in attempting to trace the culprits and rubbing their noses in the damage they have caused, the same way that one would house-train a pet. Because it seems to me that this is exactly the sort of socialisation training that they are lacking.

I am sick of hearing people bleating on and on about how hard done by the little sh*ts are and how there is nothing for the poor little bored dears to do. I am equally sick of hearing that the only solution to teenage misbehaviour is to throw ever increasing amounts of public money at the problem.

It is not as though the Police are not aware of whom the likely culprits are. I should like to see the Police take a damn sight more vigorous and pro-active approach to this problem. If they were prepared to make a few more house calls to lay down the law and empathise a bit less, I guarantee that you would see the problem much reduced, if not all but eliminated. They perhaps would not catch as many speeding motorists but, I think that we would all sleep a lot easier.

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I must agree in principle Bob, but even if we did find the "little sh--s we would be the ones in trouble, even if rubbing their noses is all we did. The police, I know do not seem to take an interest in this type of thing, but what do we do ,allow everything to lye in ruins so they can wallow in the results of their work., Or get on with sorting it out and proving to them that we care about the kids who use the facilities, and not about the idiots that choose to wreck things.

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So are you suggesting that nothing is done, that an area that was once nice is now left as a rotting reminder of how some people do not care about other people? Are you suggesting that when some thugs graffittied on my wall I should have just left it and allowed every other idiot to use my wall as a drawing board? That too gives them the wrong impression that no one cares about things. It is only by rebuilding that we can show defiance and strength and pride.

I agree wholeheartedly that vandals should be caught but that is a whole different issue to whether we should return the area to its former glory or not.

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Now now, I'm not saying don't repair the damage.

What I am trying to get at is that there has to be another solution to this. We are all intelligent, responsible adults. Surely there must be some way that we can put our collective heads together and beat a couple of dozen snotty-nosed kids at their own game, without getting on the wrong side of the law and without requiring the injection of vast tranches of taxpayers money.

I don't know what the solution to the problem is, I wish I did. But I do know that attempting to appease tyrants, thugs and bullies has never worked. Indeed the original Vandals viewed all attempts to placate them as weakness and earned the placaters nothing but scorn, rape and pillage. Stoical endurance doesn't work either, nor does ignoring the problem and hoping that it will go away or hoping that someone else will step in and solve the problem for us.

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Thinking aloud - sort of - it strikes me that things were different before the the 60's because there was more of a sense of social cohesiveness; everyone in an area knew each other often because they worked in the same location and family members often lived close by. Maintaining a sense of Community was a lot easier then.

Now that families are often scattered far and wide and large numbers of people no longer work in one location it is that much more difficult. One of the things that ensured that your kids stayed on the straight and narrow was because if they strayed you knew that everyone at work would know about it and you would be the object of a great deal of gossip and significant looks or even worse if the offence was serious.

People are easier to control as a herd because they tend to police themselves. This perhaps comes close to the nub of what is lacking.

But in a fragmented and fragmenting society how do you foster this fading sense of Community, of belonging, of shared ownership and shared responsibility?

OK, what follows is one idea that I realise is so impractical that it would never work, it would depend on everyone gathering together and agreeing for one thing, which is never going to happen. But then again, similar things have worked in other places.

The Friends of Rhyddings Park, and every other park in the borough, are a good starting place. It is composed of people who care enough about a particular location to give up some of their time for the good of everyone and who are determined to put some energy and time into building rather than destroying, maintaining rather than ignoring.

What if we took that idea and applied it to other aspects of our communities?

If enough concerned residents could be found who were prepared to give up one evening a week it would not take much organisation to liase with the Police and HBC and form teams to patrol the streets and play areas just keep an eye on what is going on in the evenings and at weekends. Sort of like an unpaid, voluntary community warden scheme.

Perhaps they could also take our lovely councillors out with them. It should then follow that as the children of the locality get to know their wardens there would then be the opportunity for play, discussion, engagement and a degree of supervision which could prevent many situations developing into problems. I am sure that local business would be only too happy to contribute to any running costs that there might be.

Of course such a situation would be open to abuse. Any system is open to abuse. But one would hope that through liaison with the Police it would be minimalised if not entirely eliminated.

I realise that this also sounds a bit like I am advocating an alternative Police force, but what alternative is there when the police seem to find it much more entertaining to rush hither and thither in their cars with the go faster stripes and flashing lights and sirens that go woo-woo chasing speeding motorists ?

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Good idea Ab,but have you ever had to deal with some of the aforementioned Little Sh***.
I have and I can tell you some of them are beyond help,only interested in the next purchase of drugs/alcohol and these are the younger ones.
The only answer I can think of is to name them when found and then at least we know who is who.
Of course then we will have Solicitors,Youth workers and Social Services on our backs,making us feel like criminals.

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I applaud your stance Bob and I have little doubt that you are right in what you have alluded too in respect of closer self policing communities of the past. However, we have little chance of reclaiming our communities when those who could make a difference dig there heads in the sand and chose to do nothing. Again the community itself is split to begin with between race, culture, religion and indifference. The Police themselves would like nothing better than the community to police itself, but within the law. HBC? I am not sure of; it would appear according to the members of this site that those elected to serve the borough are without foresight, lack the benefit of hindsight and are the champions of indifference, are they, or is it us. We should make a stand and demonstrate that as a community “web based on this occasion” we are not prepared to let local children down by giving way to thugs and vandals. Our efforts and our money will achieve this and when it’s done we will have to depend on the local community, the children of the school and your elected councillors to ensure that the Garden is watched over and protected. We should lead by example and demonstrate what can be achieved so that others are encouraged to join in.

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True, but these are just ideas. Another one which I think I may have mentioned before is to provide every class in the borough with a pair of Grandparents; Senior citizens who would come in for a couple of hours a day to help the teacher and take part in lessons. Who would be available to talk with and with whom the children could begin to identify. It would also help with children who are not properly socialised when they begin school. Our elderly have a lifetime of skills and experience to impart. It seems such a pity that it goes unused.

It would also help the retired too, by giving them the sense that they are still needed and have something of worth to contribute.

Another idea is designating a public area of the borough as the responsibility of the local school and involving the children of that school in its funding and maintenance, to give them a sense of ownership, responsibility and pride.

If we can have wristbands for recycling why can we not have them for environmental protection and conservation, for being careful not to litter, for being polite, for being aware of the borough and how it might be improved.

While we are at it, why not institute a junior citizens version of HBC to shadow the real HBC and throw the problem of Vandalism and antisocial behaviour at them and see what solutions they come up with.

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i must admit i would like to see the "vandals" caught, but i would also like to see them punished, i would love to be stood there watching them repair the damage they have caused, & may i add if money has to be used ........they must use their own , if they have none ............ their parents must pay it.

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Sad to hear that people could be so thoughtless and barbaric :(

Is the head teacher at St Marys still Mr.Wells? He rocked :)

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Yes he is, and he does!

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theres only one message i would send to the vandals- but ive promised to be nice today lol

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But his math is too fast! :p

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ah well yesterdays over =the VANDALS are mindless,inadequate assholes.