Riots and Looting

I've been contacted by many of you regarding our safety here in London during this time of madness and disarray so I thought I'd post a little of the perspective from this side of the pond.  We are safe and sound, so thank you for your thoughts and concern!!  Fortunately, our sleepy neighborhood remains relatively unaffected.  However, many stores have taken precautionary measures to minimize damage and loss, if the "disorder" reaches us.

Department Store

Sports Store

Post Office

In contrast to our peaceful suburb, Clapham, a city in southwest London, was hit pretty hard with the riots and looting.  Clapham Junction is the "busiest railway in Britain" and one that I went through yesterday to return home from my glorious day at Kew Botanical Gardens (more details on that in another post!).  Upon exiting the train station, I was met with broken and boarded windows, police officers in every direction, and nearly as many  news reporters.  Most of the people "roaming" the street were actually standing and staring at the damage or taking pictures (like me).  It is surprising, and yet, I think writer, Max Hastings, may be on to something.  He observes:

Of course it is true that few (of the rioters and looters) have jobs, learn anything useful at school, live in decent homes, eat meals at regular hours or feel loyalty to anything beyond their local gang.  This is not, however, because they are victims of mistreatment or neglect.  It is because it is fantastically hard to help such people, young or old, without imposing a measure of compulsion which modern society finds unacceptable.  These kids are what they are because nobody makes them be anything different or better.

A key factor in delinquency is lack of effective sanctions to deter it.  From an early stage, feral children discover that they can bully fellow pupils at school, shout abuse at people in the streets, urinate outside pubs, hurl litter from car windows, play car radios at deafening volumes, and indeed, commit casual assaults with only a negligible prospect of facing rebuke, far less retribution. 

Although Max Hastings is referring to a sect of British youth, I think it warrants a serious look at American youth and what we communicate with our system of expectations and sanctions (or lack thereof).