I just watched Belly's links & all I can say is, disgusting ! I'm at a loss how that father can be so callous as to tell his pile of crap of a daughter to stay strong. He should be charged also. I hope they get at least 3 years, no parole.

Indi and Foxy,
While the idea of National Service is worth a try, it may be too late as kids need to learn dissaplin and courteous behaviour from very young.

Parents have to learn not to give in to all demands from kids and teachers need more control.

My parents taught us about being courteous to others and we had to address adults by their proper tittle. We had to walk around others on the footpath and help with chores at home. Girls were taught how to sit properly and how to be ladylike. We all learnt how to use a knife and fork properly.

We got the cane at school when we deserved it, and not game to tell dad as we may have got a bit more. Cannot see that it did us much harm except to learn we were not the only fish in the sea.

One of mums favourite saying was, 'It costs nothing to say please and thank you'. This seems sadly lacking in the young these days.

I once had a go at a high school teacher about kids behaviour and he replied. "Mate it s too late when we get them. One kid in my class turned 14 last week and his parents gave him a carton of smokes and a bottle of burbon for presents, so what hope have we got?"

Banjo,
Once National Service becomes not only accepted but also desired, perhaps the cane (just a tiny one & a little slap for dessert for starters ) may gain approval too. I'd say the toughest part would be making a start of it. Once the show is on the road there won't be any calls for stopping it. The benefit of discipline will be the impetus.

Dear Banjo,

To repeat - what I've written in the past:
Our job as parents is to raise
a decent human being. Decency might sound like a
modest ambition, but in today's culture it's not
as easy to achieve as we might think. Every
parent I know lives with the uneasy sense that
their children are growing up too fast. While we
spin our wheels worrying about our children's
education, our children may be missing the "real
basics" like respect, loyalty, and a sense of fair play.

Our children growing up are facing
tough choices and complicated situations. They need to
be surrounded by a sturdy sensibility, a world view, that
is different from the "Me" mentality of modern culture.

They have to be taught and learn the difference
between right and wrong. These are difficult times for
parents who like to control things - other solar systems
begin to have their appeal when one realises that one's
child is just as likely to find a condom as a flower at the
park. The role of a parent is certainly not easy. And
as I see it -
it is not to protect our children from the truth, but to
protect them from something less than the truth.

Here's an extract
from an anecdote told by Dr. Ginott who used to be an
Adjunct Professor at New York University many years ago:
Reading it still impacts on me today:

"On the first day of the new school year, all the
teachers in one private school received the following
note from their principal:

Dear Teacher:

I am a survivor of a concentration camp.
My eyes saw what no man should witness:

Gas chambers built by "learned" engineers.

Children poisoned by "educated" physicians.

Infants killed by "trained" nurses.

Women and babies shot and burned by "high school"
and "college" graduates."

So, I am suspicious of education.

My reuqest is: Help your students become human.
Your efforts must never produce learned monsters,
skilled psychopaths, educated Eichmanns.

Reading, writing, arithmetic are important only if
they serve to make our children more humane."

I don't know why anyone would be surprised by the reported rudeness and rough treatment of other bus travellers by those 'girls'. The Glitter Strip is infested with Sunnyvale girls (and boys). They have all but destroyed the once pleasant family and retirement beach resort and Hinterland of the Gold Coast.

Sunnyvale girls,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-4DOggRYDY

That is the culture that has taken over and it is not restricted to the 'burbs they 'own' by 'right' either, as in their gangs.

It is mildly amusing that a 'girl' who is a convicted drug smuggler of a large amount of quality hydroponic dope still benefits from the highly positive stereotyping that women have benefited form since the year dot.

On the other hand there shouldn't be an over-reaction against the two idiot 'girls', at least while ferals can escape lengthy custodial sentences for coward's punches, glassings and other vicious crimes against people. A fine and supervised community work I'd say.

They all need work to do. That is the solution. Cut the support and get them to work for their keep. That will develop a sense of pride in themselves and their environment.

onthebeach,
The one thing that gripes me the most with juvenile deliqunency is that not once are they to made to compensate for damage they caused be it malicious or theft. That is something that really needs to be discussed asap. I have had my life altered & will not recover from this financially & it hurts to no end to have a Magistrate shrug his shoulders at the question of compensation.