The latest real-life characters to lay claim to notoriety are the members of the Edinburgh Young Team, whose particular brand of teenage rebellion disfigures the east end of Princes Street most weekends.
Teenage gangs have proved fertile ground fo
r sociologists, psychologists, writers and, of course, journalists and it is only right that those who cause mayhem for kicks should be subjected to scrutiny. But finding out what makes them tick isn't going to make them change their ways any more than devising new punishments.
Such gang members are well aware of the consequences of their behaviour – their friends and relatives fill jails, accident and emergency units and graveyards every year – and not even relative affluence can prevent some young people earning a place in society and the "respect" of their peers by criminal means.
For them the prospect of hard graft, either on the sports field, workplace or the classroom is a waste of time. Instead, they chose the fast lane to instant gratification, where fear is confused with respect and jail is a minor hazard when drug dealing can bring rewards like a second-hand BMW and a sovereign ring.
Nor is the usual "there's nothing for kids to do" an adequate excuse for the most excessive antisocial behaviour. For every teenager who chooses to hang around a corner causing trouble and intimidating passers-by, there is another who has opted to find something useful to do through school or community groups. With cities like Edinburgh awash with activities for young people "there is nothing to do" is not a failure of the authorities but the failure of the individual to take advantage of the many opportunities now available.
The fact is that people like the Young Edinburgh Team base their choices on instant gratification with no regard for the consequences of their behaviour. While giving up all hope is not an option, the time for soft options ran out a long time ago.
From their own comments, it seems that the police tactics are just about right. Making life constantly difficult by hassling them is the labour-intensive but effective way of disrupting their behaviour. The key to better lives for all people affected by such behaviour across Edinburgh is to make sure that the effort which goes into the city centre extends to every precinct and chip shop in the city. Only yesterday we reported the death of a father trying to break up a row in a street where one household makes life miserable for others and whose feral offspring will no doubt be impressed by the EYT.
Back in the fictional world of 30s cinema, the young hoodlums in Angels with Dirty Faces turn away from crime in the belief that their hero was really a coward, but in reality they would have soon found another loser to idolise. The trick is to make sure that neds are losers more often
The full article contains 532 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
