Teenagers in playground at park n ride

Zoe zebra

If there are any parents of teenagers reading this could you have a word with them about their behaviour if you are aware that they are frequenting the kids playground at the park n ride.

Every evening the playground is invaded by teenagers who intimidate younger kids off swings etc by running in and jumping on the playground equipment. The other evening a group of them ran in (one curly haired girl in shorts and her male friends in hoodies) and the first thing they did was go to the top of the climbing frame to examine the graffiti. They use bad language in front of young kids and are generally rough and I have witnessed them calling parents expletives when they ask them to tone it down, particularly when they're carrying out their various mating rituals.

Other groups hang out in the carpark of the meridian and they made the underground carpark of the former superquinn a no go area.

So please parents, if you know your teenage kids are hanging around in the playground (and some of you do as you actually drop them off there by car) could you have a conversation with them about the effect that the graffiti, bad language and behaviour has on the little kids that the playground is intended for..........

zoobizoo

If you need to clean off the graffiti, this stuff works a treat from these guys www.graffitiwipeout.net

Cheeky Chops

When you say teenage do you mean 13 or 18? Big difference!

Cerco

This is the age old problem of lack of facilities to attract young teenagers.
I understand how the op feels but I doubt if asking parents to request their teenagers to stay away will solve the problem.
I would suspect in years to come the op will be at the other end of the problem, unless some further investment is made to provide facilities for the young teenagers.

dr ro

There could hardly be more facilities in Greystones. But if the ones that are here are getting vandalized there will be less. Take pictures of these teens vandalising the playground.

boardie100

Cerco wrote: »

This is the age old problem of lack of facilities to attract young teenagers.
I understand how the op feels but I doubt if asking parents to request their teenagers to stay away will solve the problem.
I would suspect in years to come the op will be at the other end of the problem, unless some further investment is made to provide facilities for the young teenagers.

lol, what facilities are missing?...

Cheeky Chops

I've a young teen and they go to the playground because they feel safe there. They can't hang around the shops, there is no youth centre so they gravitate to the playground. I've never seen nor heard of them acting like this and would be horrified if this were the case.

mariaalice

Theres not a lot you can do about it, I don't know if there is a community Guard in Greystones, but its the kind of issue they are good at sorting out explaining to them that a playground is for younger children. Teenagers often don't understand how intimidating they are when they are in groups.

Mine use to hang around in the park at the end of the Burnaby or the far end of the beach and they and their friends asked to keep quite by the Guards on occasions. They are grown up now with very serious careers, I know its hard to imagine teenagers growing up and getting sense but they will.

ted1

Cheeky Chops wrote: »

I've a young teen and they go to the playground because they feel safe there. They can't hang around the shops, there is no youth centre so they gravitate to the playground. I've never seen nor heard of them acting like this and would be horrified if this were the case.

Beach?

Cheeky Chops

ted1 wrote: »

Beach?

They are at a funny age - still very young really. None of them are allowed to swim unsupervised. And like I said they feel safe at the playground.

ted1

Cheeky Chops wrote: »

They are at a funny age - still very young really. None of them are allowed to swim unsupervised. And like I said they feel safe at the playground.

Unfortunately they make the kids who the playground is designed for feel unsafe.

They don't have to swin there, they can relax there, skin stones etc.

John_Rambo

Cerco wrote: »

This is the age old problem of lack of facilities to attract young teenagers.

Problem solved.

Annasopra

Theres lots of facilities if you have plenty of money and are into sport. If you have very little money and are not exactly a sporty person theres nothing really.

Bray, Arklow, Kilcoole, Wicklow Town all have youth centres now.

triple nipple

Cheeky Chops wrote:

I've a young teen and they go to the playground because they feel safe there. They can't hang around the shops, there is no youth centre so they gravitate to the playground. I've never seen nor heard of them acting like this and would be horrified if this were the case.

your teen should not be in a playground meant for young children, regardless of how well behaved. I'm sick of teenagers coming into playgrounds and play centres in restaurants causing trouble. not to say that yours does but, even the sight of them can make young children uncomfortable. not to mention there parents !

Cheeky Chops

triple nipple wrote: »

your teen should not be in a playground meant for young children, regardless of how well behaved. I'm sick of teenagers coming into playgrounds and play centres in restaurants causing trouble. not to say that yours does but, even the sight of them can make young children uncomfortable. not to mention there parents !

So a 6th class pupil or 1st year are not welcome on the swings .... ok. I never would have known that - I used to do it myself. I'm not allowing this buying chips and hanging around chip shops.

I think a society where people are uncomfortable of 13 year olds in a small group is sending a message of fear to the smallies. It also leads straight into excluding teens which can then lead into the path to trouble. When they are young teens THAT is when they need all the support they can get. They nearly all have younger siblings whom they still play with in a sweet way.

I will look to see if the playground prohibits under 12's and act accordingly. I find it really quite sad though. Actually not quite sad, really sad.

Cheeky Chops

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

Theres lots of facilities if you have plenty of money and are into sport. If you have very little money and are not exactly a sporty person theres nothing really.

Bray, Arklow, Kilcoole, Wicklow Town all have youth centres now.

This precisely and what you get is groups at chippies, supermarkets and sweet shops. Young teens are still quite innocent and they need a focus, somewhere to go. They can't gather in a house as people live out all over the place and they are experiencing their first years of independence. They need to "go" to a place. The dart to the flicks is way out of my league financially and they just want a chat.

There is strong evidence that without community support young teens can end up in trouble. But hey that is a whole other board game - with all the cafes, restaurants and boutiques there seems to be no will for a community centre in Greystones. And re sports these kids are knackered at the weekend - they are go go go all week.

(sorry mods this is not about the playground now)

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

triple nipple wrote: »

your teen should not be in a playground meant for young children, regardless of how well behaved. I'm sick of teenagers coming into playgrounds and play centres in restaurants causing trouble. not to say that yours does but, even the sight of them can make young children uncomfortable. not to mention there parents !

That's absolute rubbish to be honest.

Gordy6040

Cerco wrote: »

This is the age old problem of lack of facilities to attract young teenagers.
I understand how the op feels but I doubt if asking parents to request their teenagers to stay away will solve the problem.
I would suspect in years to come the op will be at the other end of the problem, unless some further investment is made to provide facilities for the young teenagers.

Seriously? ? Rugby, gaa, soccer, tennis, running track, cricket, astro tuff, bmx/skate park, swimming, beech, 2 gyms. What else do want by way of facilities?

Cheeky Chops

Gordy6040 wrote: »

Seriously? ? Rugby, gaa, soccer, tennis, running track, cricket, astro tuff, bmx/skate park, swimming, beech, 2 gyms. What else do want by way of facilities?

With all due respect those all involve being sporty and most you need money to pay for them!

desertcircus

Gordy6040 wrote: »

Seriously? ? Rugby, gaa, soccer, tennis, running track, cricket, astro tuff, bmx/skate park, swimming, beech, 2 gyms. What else do want by way of facilities?

And for teenagers who aren't interested in sports and just want to chat with their friends?

loyatemu

desertcircus wrote: »

And for teenagers who aren't interested in sports and just want to chat with their friends?

the park, the beach, plenty of benches along the seafront.

a lot of kids seem to hang out at the Skate/BMX park but its a bit outside of the town; the David's basketball courts as well (not sure if they're open all the time).

the playground could use some equipment for older kids (i.e. 8-12 yr olds) such as a large climbing frame, rope-swing or zip wire (similar to Cabinteely or the new playground in Ashford) - there is plenty of unused space. Though this would probably further encourage older teenagers to hang out there.

Aronaay

There used to be group that would organise gigs for youth bands in bray and Greystones. I'd imagine this group is gone now as are most of the venues that where used. But I'm sure it could be done again. The group was setup and run by these bands due to the lack of facilities. It was easily funded buy charging between £/€2-5 depending on the cost of venue. The group even managed to expand into south dublin from extra money made. Surely there are still teenagers out there that would have the initiative to do this again.

loyatemu

Aronaay wrote: »

There used to be group that would organise gigs for youth bands in bray and Greystones. I'd imagine this group is gone now as are most of the venues that where used. But I'm sure it could be done again. The group was setup and run by these bands due to the lack of facilities. It was easily funded buy charging between £/€2-5 depending on the cost of venue. The group even managed to expand into south dublin from extra money made. Surely there are still teenagers out there that would have the initiative to do this again.

I think the point is that teenagers don't always want organised activities - sports, music etc - they just want to hang out and shoot the breeze.

Aronaay

loyatemu wrote: »

I think the point is that teenagers don't always want organised activities - sports, music etc - they just want to hang out and shoot the breeze.

Because it was run by teenagers it seemed more like a place just to hang out

Gordy6040

triple nipple wrote: »

your teen should not be in a playground meant for young children, regardless of how well behaved. I'm sick of teenagers coming into playgrounds and play centres in restaurants causing trouble. not to say that yours does but, even the sight of them can make young children uncomfortable. not to mention there parents !

Bit OTT mate. I've no problem with a couple of teenagers having a swing. It's not like their drinking and having a snog in the bushes.