HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1965-06-17, Page 9Second Suction; Pages 9..16 :
Past,,
Officers. Discuss Events
The Beatles may have un-
wittingly received the kiss of
death, by being awarded the
MBE -=for how can kids hero-
worship members of the estab-
lishment?
It is the cult of the rebel
against authority that has had
such a profound effect on the
youth_ __ today Ever since
James Dean's performance in
"Rebel Without a Cause"—they
---gave--found-•-a--pu-rpose 110 lives
in their lack of purpose.
Here in Goderich we have -
our share of rebels against or.
der. Lawless sections of the
teenage population defy analysis
and, invite a good hard kick in
the pants rather than a trip to
the psychiatrist's couch.
The Sunday night incident in
'the Square gave. the opportun-
ity to 'certain swaggering, in-
solent youths to convert, what
was initially horseplay, into
what was described as' a s oten-
tial y • angerous situation."
It must have been painfully
obvious to' any bystander that
a certain section of the town's
teenage population needs to be
knocked—and knocked hard.
No doubt residents will im-
mediately quote, treatises ,ex-
plaining that "Little Johnny"
was only involved because he
was dropped on his head as, a
child.
Perhaps a solution to the pro-
blem wouldthen be 'to drop
him on his head again when
he gets out of line.
Itis unfortunate that the
majority, of local kids have to
live down the reputation -Which °
is gained for their group as a
whole by certain social out-
casts.
"These kids come like bunch-
es of bananas," explained pro-
bation ofiic&r Bill ' Craven.
"Some of them are good, some
Of ih.e.m_are,,had.."
An '.expert onteenage pro-
blems Mr. Craven was quick to
point out that Goderich has a
much lower problem percent-
age -wise than is experienced in
the cities.
'Noisy Minority
"There are a certain number
of kids who feel inferior,and
because of this they have to
show off'." said Mr. Craven. '"It
is this noisy minoriity that pro-
vides the bad name for, the
teenager."
"bad -feelings" between local
police officers and the young-
sters, the probation official said
that law officials could never
ue "universal -1- • • • _
He said:- "As far as I am
concerned if you ,have -an effec-
tive police force certain sec-
tions of the population are go-
ing to hate them."
"If I was universally -
popular with my charg-
es I would feel I was
failing in nay Job. The
very -nature of a policeman's
lot is not a happy one," he said.
On the question of stopping.
and checking ears Mr. Craven
said he felt it was being done •
purely for the protection of
youngsters and the general
public. ,
"We have had enough deaths
around. _ here Ttovarrant police
officers checking motorists if
they are behaving in a suspic-
i ous-•,pawner-
' "One per cent of my proba-
tioners past and present
,have been killed in • c a r
accidents. Everything is fine
, until one kid gets a few drinks
and • kills somebody."
He added: "If .people know
they are going to be checked
this is going to make therm
more careful I feel
the ponce work-in this town is
good."
Turning to the more contro-
versial subject of sex and the
ven• said be
felt there lead been a general
loosening of moral standards.
He went on: "I feel that some
parents are so trusting as to be
of their children."
Asked to pinpoint .the teen-
ager who is likely to get into
trouble, *Mr. Craven said they
were generally youths with "be-
low average mentality."
School Drop -outs
This view was, also shared by
GDCI corregpondent Brian
Dowds who was questioned,. as a
representative of a large sec-
tion of the teenagers in. the
community.
"The kids who go around
drinking in cars are . normally
the' high school drop outs," he
said. "Put of a total of around
15 friends I have only two
could be classed as_ac.casiona],
a drinkers."
The grade 13 student added:
"I feel the maj'oritiy of high
school kids would have respect
for the police if they them-
selves were treated with some
form of respect.
"Inc-' many cases the police
" seem to have been stopping
cars just because there are kids
driving__ them. Naturally we
resent this .and the kids .,react
by doing something .'wrong."
_ Rrian adclecl: "They seem to
be stopping about one in five
cars. I cannot see any reason
for this. The• kids feel as
though the Goderich police are
on their backs all the time
an is is w y ey c o T
steam and express their resent-
ment, every now and again."
On the other -Side of the
Aracks the police ,feel they are
only doing their duty checking
cars on the grounds that pre-
vention is known to be better
than cure.
A mere count 'of the empty
beer cases thrown •to the side
of the road on Sunday morn-
ings is a grim reminder 'Of the
weekend "action."
Police officials are forced to
maintain-a--discreet--silence- be-
cause of the ethics of their pro-
fession. But after a Sunday
.night -trip iib police .,cruiser
to view• their work it appears
that the officers bend over back-
wards in an attempt to be fair.
On at least five separate oc-
casions I witnessed • incidents
which- could have resulted in
charges under the Highway
Traffic Act. Instead a courtesy
warning was issued. •
To stand on the Square in
the evening, and watch the aim-
less parade of ever -circling cars
jostling for the limelight is a
constant source of amazement
to adults. -
But to the police this is a
symbol of the Goderich teen-
ager on parade. Drivin;' in
apathetic bored circles they
await the next dj traction. ,
The way the Sunday night in-
cident can be best summed up
is in this comment from a teen-
ager the following day. "That's
what i 11 a good night out,"
he said
C H'
P.
ly
BRIAN pOWDS