Why cant the police stop jaywalking students in Champaign especially around middle and high schools
I see it all the time these wannabe thugs with their pants hanging down they do the slow motion walk in front of cars on Prospect and Bradley near Franklin MS also the areas near Edison MS and around Central HS. They walk especially slow and look at you laughing, they have no respect or proper upbringing and the schools don"t teach them respect if they allow this. We pay huge amounts of taxes to Unit 4 and this is the result...disrespectful delinquents who have no future
Finally, I just read Yatiri's
Finally, I just read Yatiri's comments in this thread...Yatiri, can we high-five through our computer screens or something? Thank you for calling out all the silliness in this thread.
I would like to congratulate
I would like to congratulate commonsenseman for writing the funniest thing I have read in a while. The casual racism, the herky-jerky writing style and poor grammar, the mention of paying taxes to Unit 4 as if Unit 4 is responsible for the jaywalking habits of students, and LAST BUT NOT LEAST the complete ignorance of the misunderstandings between generations that have been going on since the dawn of humanity...priceless stuff!
I too have a policy to avoid
I too have a policy to avoid driving anywhere around CU at and around school pick up times till Rush Hour.
The traffic is absolutely unbearable.
I think the "school of choice" thing is causing so many school kids to be shuttled so far from home In Champaign that it is making Champaign very disjointed and more unfriendly... traffic of cars and buses morning and after school... plus the influx of cars from out of towners that work here... It is just getting worse and worse.
Neighborhood schools where kids can walk home if they are old enough and able... Where parents can meet their kids walking or biking, get to know their neighbors...
All so many reasons just right there... Why cannot we just move back to neighborhood schools?
Save Gas? Save all this congestion?
Or is this all some cocomamy system that feeds itself with more jobs?
I cannot stand seeing the neighborhoods so unfriendly nowadays due to the dispatching of kids all over town. The jaywalkers would be better handled with neighborhood schools, crossing guards... perhaps cops... but there is so much chaos as this stands, How can anyone bother to care when they just want Out of the whole situation?
Laughing right now...the
Laughing right now...the traffic is about as unbearable in C-U as the heat is unbearable in Alaska. Other than MAYBE during "rush hour," you can get from anywhere in town to anywhere else in town in 15-20 minutes easily, maybe half an hour on an unusual day. Have you ever been in a city larger than C-U?
If an idiot jaywalker and an
If an idiot jaywalker and an idiot driver with a cellphone met suddenly, I figure that the best place to be is somewhere far away from that collision. School zones seem to have plenty of both, so I try to avoid them.
My job requires me to pass
My job requires me to pass Central h.s. several times per day, have to agree with the disrespect that "some" students show to the passers by. There are students that actually hustle across the street when they see cars coming & dress with clothes that fit properly.The thing that puzzles me on a DAILY BASIS, these kids in question were taught at some point to disrespect. See dozens of kids walking to Central each morning, without book one or projects in their hand. No homework in high school? I am a parent of teenagers, you can lock up your house, lock up your car, one thing that can't be stolen is my own responsibility. If my kids don't do the work, & keep being told they are showing little effort, I have failed as their parent not the school?
Relax, the only areas you
Relax, the only areas you have failed in are logic and a basic understanding that older generations and younger generations have had it since the dawn of freakin' time...*slaps forehead*
We could use another MLK, Jr.
We could use another MLK, Jr.
Kids these days...... Tell
Kids these days...... Tell you what Commonsenseman, if you REALLY want these kids to do well, I would recommend you head out to the nearest school, and find out how you can volunteer some of your time to help some of these kids out. There are plenty of opportunities to help out in the community school systems, and you can make a real difference.
Yes, I get it there are kids who cross the street slowly in an attempt to deliberately make people mad. However, when you get upset they've done what they tried to do in the first place. Slow down, smile, take a deep breath, and move with your life. If you can't do that, avoid school zones. at 3:30pm.
So it is ridiculous to
So it is ridiculous to volunteer to help kids crossing streets in a manner you don't like is a symptom of what is wrong with America, and you're getting blackmailed.
Can I get an 'Amen'! Oh, thanks freechampaign.
Seriously?
I have volunteered in the
I have volunteered in the schools and you know what I see. Students being so disruptive that the few that want to learn cannot. And when the teacher takes a stand and sends the student out of the classroom and down to the office for their behavior. The office sends them right back and tells the teacher to deal with it. What a joke. The teachers are told to call the parents and inform them of their child's behavior. You know what that gets? A parent cursing at the teacher for picking or singling out their child. I have friends and family members that teach in unit 4 and that is why I went in and volunteered. At their request. Never again. School administrators that allow this behavior and the parents of these thugs do not deserve my time. It would be better spent at a private school that steps ups and addresses problems and creates a place fit for learning.
Good role modeling may not
Good role modeling may not always help, but it shouldn't hurt.
Based on my years with kids in Danville schools ('94 to '10) I am certain that if I had an issue with jay-walking students, and called someone, even the superintendent, (which I did a few times) some positive action would be taken.
There is no humane magic solution to make any human being simply change his or her genuine attitudes about respect, core values, even dress attire. The easiest way is for the right values and habits to be formed from birth on, and even that's no guarantee.
Oh well, enough platitudes. I noticed, though, over the years, that within 10 minutes after dismissal for the day, the schools in question looked like ghost towns, nary a straggler(!)
Regards,
Take some time to really
Take some time to really think about what this kid has gone through. To follow along with your borderline racist stereotypes, he was born unto a teenage unwed mother, addicted to narcotics at birth, bounced from filthy home to home, watched his mom "hook up" with stranger after stranger, pawned off on relatives or social services at every opportunity, gone hungry on multiple occasions, humiliated by his mother's behavior and society's response to his plight, watched relatives go off to jail, been physically abused, further exposed to drugs, bullied into joining a gang, and generally left to fend for himself. None of this his fault and, with a poor education from all this instability, no self-esteem, support system, or knowledge in his mind as to how to live any differently. And he has the audacity to annoy you by slowly jaywalking with saggy pants! (nevermind the older, rich, white, educated kids that do the same thing just a mile away at the U of I) He's just gonna end up there anyway so why not lock him up now, eh?
I'm sorry to say there isn't a good solution to the underlying problem. How do you motivate someone to care for their child, stop having children, or give their kid up for adoption? Better education for the parents could help them break this vicious cycle but we appear to have failed as a society to make that work thus far. So is it your job to mentor this kid? No. Is the parent going to do it? No. So either you do something about it out of the kindness of your heart or things remain status quo. Be the change you want to see in the world. If you don't like something, fix it because nobody is going to do it for you.
I see you had to bring race
I see you had to bring race into the mix. I do not see race stated in the original post but you made a point to say "rich whites". I could see this blog exploding if someone was to mention a minority is to blame. Oh but whats the big deal to slam the "whites" they do not have a right to feel that they can be a victim of racism.
Let's not kid ourselves.
Let's not kid ourselves. We're talking Prospect and Bradley, sagging pants, calling them "wannabe thugs". No one here can possibly claim the first image that comes to mind is anything but a black male. I'm not saying whites can't pull the racism card but that wasn't what is being purported here nor do I think the jaywalkers are doing so racistly. They slow down any traffic that happens to be there regardless of the race of the driver.
When I attended Urbana High
When I attended Urbana High School in 1967 I did the same thing. I hated adults and authority, I would saunter across the street defying the automobile drivers to slow down or stop for me just for the satisfaction of sticking it to "the man". So first of all this isn't new. We wore skin tight pants, long hair, and beads and our fashion sense really bothered some adults.
Those of us who were like-minded also walked across the street from our High School and smoked cigarettes openly, "in their face". I'm sure we irked adults then just as those in this column are upset by the teen behavior today.
And the police often did show up and attempt to stop us from jaywalking. They even parked a car with a cop there. That just made it all the better, exciting and meaningful to us. If someone got arrested that just heightened their status with the rebels.
Well....if you look at videos of great apes, chimps, the dominant silverback male has to deal with upstart youngster challenges and disrespect. If you carefully look at the Central High students who are the topic of this forum, you might notice that above all they are males and you will notice young females watching the whole thing.
So, it isn't a racial thing at all. It is dominance and submission. The young men from the Middle and High schools are challenging the dominance of people like those posting here (I bet most or all of those posting here are alpha males). Also note: Central High is their territory.
Those young Homo Sapiens males can't really help themselves. They are receiving huge doses of their anabolic steroid: testosterone. Their muscles are bulging, sex drive is up, and they challenge dominant males and dis them. It is all physiology, and DNA.
If you watch gorillas and chimps the alpha male at first tries to ignore the upstart challenger. If the young male continues then the silverback teaches him a lesson usually by acting out aggressively.
In our society that isn't permitted. That urge to teach the punks a lesson cannot be satisfied.
So instead we have this pathetic forum
It's not an excuse for their
It's not an excuse for their behavior but is rather an explanation for it. By understanding the behavior, you can learn from it and try to come up with a way to change it. I mean, we can keep doing what we're doing and they may continue on a path towards increasingly illegal and violent behavior at our expense of personal and property loss and judicial and incarceration costs or we can look at the underlying problem, try to understand what leads them to this behavior, and try to change their circumstances to get them on the path towards productive contributions to society. I personally think the latter option is the most cost-effective approach but perhaps you disagree.
And some U of I students exhibit the same slow jaywalk behavior which is why I brought it up. I thought it was notable that no mention is made of them. I agree with you, though, all laws should be enforced uniformly.
are you guys still
are you guys still complaining about jaywalkers? yawn. the real problem with america is people whose biggest problem is kids jaywalking, and then have all the free time time to complain about it. even if you solved the "jaywalking epidemic" in champaign, it wouldn't change a thing about this country.
cry and complain about jaywalking kids - it doesn't make a hill of beans difference. get over it.
A person's choice of fashion
A person's choice of fashion and speech shouldn't even be a factor here. Should wearing a burqa or pronouncing idea as idear be equally reviled as low class behavior? I'm with you in being against the actual criminal acts and supportive of efforts to make better citizens of us all but we need to separate what we don't agree with from what is dangerous.
You're absolutely right about parental control and involvement being critical here. I think the discussions need to revolve around how to improve that situation as an improvement there would address the underlying problem.
The common sense thing to do
The common sense thing to do is ignore them and not get so angry about it.
Bluegrass has a point that if
Bluegrass has a point that if you don't like something, do something about it. You say what's the problem with America is the hard working people have to bow down to others demands of those who do nothing. The people who do nothing expect something from others, right? They point their fingers and say you do it. But isn't that exactly what is happening here. It's just feeding into the problem... Complain and point fingers. You say you pay taxes so you pass the burden onto the school and wash your hands clean? But is the school's fault these children were not raised right? No, it's the parents. And should schools be made responsible for raising these kids, no? But that's what ends up happening, although it is not their fault, in the end someone has to take it on. The attitude problem is "it's not my responsibility" both from the actual ones with the responsibility and the ones that point fingers and refuse to take action on their complaints.
You really have a problem with it? Do something. Whether volunteer or even just write a letter to the schools, police, city etc of your concerns. Ask them to up crossing guard coverage after school, not only for the needless lingering but safety (try running over one of the kids to make your point *kidding*) or try to incorporate the questioned streets into more patrols. Yea jay walking may warrant a ticket but police generally have better things to do than go chasing after some arrogant teens. Let them know it's a concern.
And it all just comes down to the fact that it's just these kids stupid way of rebelling and getting people riled up. In the end these kids are just going to get a harder slap of reality when they enter the adult world.
Edit: the edit feature is new isn't it? :)
such habits are a reflection
such habits are a reflection of the upbringing by their parents
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