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Pastimes : Where the GIT's are going -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (184961)	10/19/2009 8:01:12 PM
From: SmoothSail	3 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 225578

I'm happy to say that I've reached that stage in my life when most kids, most kids, defer and are polite when I speak up and correct their behavior. I live across the street from a middle school and there have been times when some of them become a little unruly. About 5 years ago, a wall that runs along the back of the property got tagged. So everyday when the school let out, I took my video camera and documented the kids who took that path. There was one group of boys who passed by, watching suspiciously, and came back and asked what I was doing. I pointed to the wall with all the unwanted paint and told them I was documenting every kid that went by for the cops. They reacted in a way that surprised me. They got mad - not at me but at the graffiti saying that our town doesn't have graffiti and said it was 2 new kids in town - skateboarders who were spraying the names of their heros on the wall. They actually gave me the names. I gave the names to the mayor, who is a friend of mine and asked for his suggestion since the town doesn't have any ordinance to deal with graffiti. He went and visited other nearby towns to find out how they handled the problem. A couple months later, we now have a law that anyone who tags in this town will have $1000 fine imposed and they will have to pay the owner all damages. If the paint can't be matched, then the whole place can be painted with the parents having to absorb all the costs. Turns out these 2 kids were very prolific and tagged the same thing all over town and got caught. To set an example (and to test the law, I suspect) the city and property owners sued the parents and won. They no longer live here. There is no graffiti here.

To: Alan Smithee who wrote (184961)	10/19/2009 10:54:16 PM
From: Neeka	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 225578

When kids first started boarding, it was really scary. It was like a war zone. I remember a couple of times when the boys were actually laughing and gleeful after putting my life in danger. I don't know what happened, but I've seen a marked improvement in their behavior and habits. I'm thinking the ski areas have ejected enough of the bad guys the word got around and they were forced to cleaned up their act. For awhile there, they treated the ski mts as if they were places they could just let go, and harass people with abandon.