Teen swarmings

I suppose I shouldn't be shocked by this article, but I am. I find it quite disturbing. Recently, I posted about the Kelly Ellard trials and convictions HERE. Obviously, no lessons have been learned about that situation.

For those that are interested, I would like to discuss this violent behaviour amongst teens. Feel free to include in your discussions local stories that illustrate the problems. The story I have posted is from my area.

'Alarming' jump in number of teen swarmings in city
Girls are often more violent than boys

Glenda Luymes
The Province
Friday, July 15, 2005

Vancouver police are warning parents to keep track of their children in the wake of eight savage swarmings in the last month.

"We've been seeing an alarming increase in the number of swarmings," Const. Howard Chow said yesterday.

"We want to send a clear message that the mob mentality does not work."

On Monday night, a 12-year-old and two 13-year-old girls were arrested and charged in connection with the most recent swarming.

On July 4, a 13-year-old girl was jumped by three girls near a park at Pandora and Nanaimo streets. She was thrown to the ground and beaten before a passing motorist scared her attackers away.

The victim's mother, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, said her family is taking it "day by day."

Her daughter suffered two black eyes and a concussion, which kept her vomiting for nearly a week.

"She's healing nice, physically, but she's going to need counselling for the emotional side," the girl's mother said yesterday.

Police said one of the girls charged had been charged with assault in January. She is "loosely affiliated" with a group that was involved in a particularly violent assault in the summer of 2003.

Yesterday police released a convenience-store video of that attack, showing a youth being chased and then swarmed by a large group.

The video showed the teen cowering behind a store counter with his hands over his head. The pursuing youths first threw things at him before stepping behind the counter to beat him. A young girl delivered a number of blows with a merchandise stand.

The gang left the store while the clerk called police, but they eventually returned two more times to beat the victim with a fire extinguisher.

Police said the boy sustained serious injuries. Three youths were charged and pleaded guilty.

Three Grade 7 students at Nootka Elementary were recently arrested after they allegedly hatched "a devilish little plot" to lure a boy into a ravine so they could beat him, said Det. Doug Spencer.

The boy thought he was going to watch a fight when he was pushed into the middle of a circle and beaten with a hoe. His attackers also shot him with a BB gun.

Spencer said many of the swarmings involve makeshift weapons, such as chains, table legs and sticks. Sometimes machetes or more conventional weapons are used.

Sgt. Mario Giardini said that while most of the attacks are not random, "you don't know how much bravado [gang members] will build up."

He said parents need to "keep track" of their kids and talk to them about avoiding violent people, as the same teens, or their siblings, tend to be involved in multiple crimes.

Simon Fraser University criminologist Irwin Cohen said that makes sense, considering that poor parental supervision is often a factor in youth crime.

"Youth crime generally happens between 3:30 and 5:30 [p.m.], when parents aren't home from work yet," he said.

"Chronic young offenders often have family discord and problems.

"When you have kids whose siblings or parents are violent, it certainly raises the risk that they will also be violent."

Cohen said girls are also engaging in group violence more often.

"We've seen that, when in a group, girls can be even more violent than boys. In the past, girls would gain positive status by perhaps being mean or spreading rumours, but today, they can gain respect for being strong and having a reputation as a bully."

Sibylle Artz of the University of Victoria said youth with the poorest "life conditions" are most likely to be violent adults.

"Whether or not [youth] will continue in violent behaviour or in a gang depends on how closely affiliated they are with the gang," she said.

"The people who persist are those who are alienated from society and can't access the resources they need. People with the poorest life conditions generally end up in poor conditions as adults."

But, said Artz, violence in Canada is on a downward trend.

Statistics Canada figures released two weeks ago show the number of violent crimes committed by young people wass declining in 2003.

Violent offences by Vancouver youth aged 15 to 17 were down 40 per cent between 1996 and 2003, and down 36.6 per cent among men aged 18 to 24.

Violent offences among women in Vancouver were also down.


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