Headline of The Week Weak

Ohio woman, 90, attempts suicide after foreclosure

A 90-year-old Ohio woman, facing eviction from the home she has lived in for 38 years, shot and wounded herself this week, becoming a grim symbol of the U.S. home mortgage crisis. 

Addie Polk was found lying on the floor of her home with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her shoulder when police came to the home on Wednesday to serve an eviction notice, Akron police spokesman Lt. Rick Edwards said on Friday. 

Polk survived the shooting and is being treated in a hospital.  

It was the latest attempt by sheriff's deputies to evict Polk from her modest single-family home because she could not keep up with her mortgage.   

"It appears they're evicting her over her mortgage. She's lived in the house, the neighbors said, something like 38 years and in the last couple of years fell prey to some predatory lending company or financial institution," Edwards said.   

Local news reports said deputies had tried to serve Polk's eviction notice more than 30 times before Wednesday's shooting.

Home foreclosure rates are at record highs in the United States, in many cases because buyers with adjustable interest rates could not keep up with sharp increases in monthly payments. The foreclosure crisis has sparked a wider housing market downturn and is at the heart of the U.S. financial crisis.

[Image via Wenn, by courtesy of Perez Hilton]

Headline of The Week Weak

Iowa man faces charges after hugging officer

A hug has landed an Iowa City man in hot water.

An Iowa City man who thought a police officer just "needed a hug" faces several charges including assault on a peace officer and public intoxication.

Police said a 21-year-old man was arrested on Saturday. According to police records, the man ran up to the officer and stuck out his arms.

The officer told him to "get away," but the man didn't take the hint and embraced the officer.

When the officer told the man to put his hands behind his head, he refused. He was then handcuffed.

[Image via Wenn, by courtesy of Perez Hilton]

Can You Believe? Believe It!

Can you believe she is a transgender? Moreoever, she is on America's Next Top Model Cycle 11! Hot!

CLICK HERE to read more about this entry.

'Cheater' Blaine Finishes 'Deadly' Stunt To Boos!

(Photo edited and taken from perezhilton.com)

Peeps don't like getting played!

We previously mentioned that many folks felt like David Blaine 'cheated' his way through his 3 day, 60-hour hanging stunt over New York's Central Park because he took multiple right side up breaks during the endeavor. At least one an hour. Sometimes more!

New Yorkers are a vocal bunch and they let Blaine know how craptasticlly they viewed this latest attention seeking gig.

The 'magician' was booed by onlookers at the big, ceremonial 'conclusion' event of his 'death defying' hanging stunt in New York City on Wednesday night.

Does this mean we won't hear from Blaine for a long time!

Don't come back unless you have something really, really good, Davie!

[By courtesy of Perez Hilton] 

Euro Leads To Death

Do not bet your life with money. It costs you everything...

眼, 耳, 心

用眼睛来听, 用耳朵来看, 用心来分析

Raising Frankenkids

Is modern life leaving children overindulged, overstimulated and underparented?

This is an article taken and adapted from Lucy Cavendish.

My friend looked harassed. “I’ve been in Tokyo on business,” she explained. “I was only there for four days but Archie was so upset that I promised I’d buy him a PlayStation 3. Now I’ve got to find him some games.” Archie is six.

The next day I was at a Sunday lunch with friends and their children. It was all pretty relaxed, but halfway through lunch I realized something was missing. The children were almost completely silent.

Most of them playing PSPs (PlayStation Portables) or watching DVDs on portable players. As we talked, I noticed the host’s three-year-old under the table, playing on his own PSP.

When his mother asked him what he was doing, he pulled a face and told her to “shut up”.

We are breeding a generation Frankenkinder. Coined in the United States, the term refers to the children of the financially rich but time-poor.

This generation of parents is trying to buy its children off, doing backflips so as not to disappoint them.

But whatever parents give, it’s never enough and the children they are raising are turning into monsters.

It’s little wonder, then, that according to a Cambridge University report published recently, classroom discipline is deteriorating because parents are overindulging their children.

The study reveals that exposure to television, video games and computers is damaging children’s development, leaving them unprepared for full-time education. Some are unable to hold a knife and fork - or use the loo.

It is a dangerous time to be young. Children are getting fatter - the report found one child who had seven chocolate bars as his packed lunch - and lazier. They do less sport. They are no longer allowed to go to the park unsupervised.

To compensate, we are spending vast sums on toys and computer games, hobbies and leisure activities to keep our children occupied.

It’s called the Parent Pound and businesses are capitalizing on it, offering a never-ending range of courses from fencing to acting to rowing. Anything to keep them - and us - happy.

It’s a vicious cycle. We are so controlling, orchestrating every aspect of our children’s lives, trying to please, appease and protect. Yet, paradoxically, it is our children who are controlling us, as boundaries become dangerously blurred.

“We have bred a generation of children who are actually emotionally neglected,” says Harriet Griffey, a parenting writer and broadcaster.

“They may seem in the know, but have very few real age-appropriate experiences.”

And they are swamped with choice - parents allow them to choose what to eat, what to wear, who to see, what clubs to join.

We’ve forgotten how to say NO.

“It’s insanity,” says Griffey. “Parents are treating children as adults. Children need boundaries. They need constant love and attention, but when rules need to be enforced, that is the parent’s job.”

Griffey believes that this inability to say no is because modern-day parents have lost confidence when it comes to child-rearing. “Parents are afraid that if they put down some ground rules, their children won’t like them,” she says.

“Most parents seem to think that parenting is about being their children’s friends, so they lay down no rules at all.”

“Now children have come to realise that whining and cajoling and maybe resorting to being just plain rude will get them what they want.”

Take my friend Connie. She telephoned me the other day to tell me she was going to parenting classes as the behaviour of her two teenage boys had got out of control.

“I’ve never laid down the law,” she said, “and I always wanted to be a friend to them, but now I’ve turned into the kind of mother I don’t want to be. I shout at them all the time. I think I hate them.”

Wanting to be a friend with a child is a common problem.

“But children want to have a parent - or two - to rebel against,” says the self-help guru Nina Grunfeld. “They’ve got to hate you for a while. You’ve got to set boundaries that they can take umbrage with. Only then can they find themselves.”

Child psychotherapist Asha Phillips, author of Saying No: Why It’s Important for You and Your Child, believes the problem lies in the fact that modern parents don’t want children, but extensions of themselves. “No one wants to look like a mum.”

“Women want to look younger and children want to look older. Everyone is dressed in the same clothes. In the past babies were dressed as babies.”

“Now even three-month-olds are wearing designer clothes.”

It doesn’t stop at clothes. Toys are also an issue. The problem, according to Phillips, is that: “Toys tend to be acquired through extortion on the child’s behalf, rather than as a gift.”

“They have nagged doe an MP3 player, say, and then they trash it because they think everything is replaceable. They have no attachment to toys any more. Their PSP can never be an imaginary friend. They can’t cuddle it or take it for a picnic. They learn no element of reciprocity.”

But how much is to do with the parents and how much with modern life? For there is more than one element that goes towards making Frankenkinder.

Advertising, for instance, treats children as mini-adults. Children are sexualized at a much earlier age these days and many watch reality shows from the age of eight upwards, which means they are exposed to an adult world.

Jo Schofield, author of Nature’s Playground, thinks over-dependence on the television damages children emotionally as well as physically.

“Creativity is disappearing. Children expect to be entertained, so they don’t build up their imagination. Playing outside, where you don’t have toys, is a great way to latch on to children’s imagination.”

“If children are stuck in a room they don’t learn how to fall over and pick themselves up. Children don’t learn to judge risks.”

As parents we must learn to let them. And risk our children’s disapproval when we tell them that they can’t always have their own way.

You need a set of structures to help you be a good parent. I didn’t want to chastise the boys, as I felt I would lose their love, but they ended up treating me appallingly. Now I feel I must give them tough love. It is the only way.

Wow~ It's TOO MUCH!

Yeah!

It's too much

to learn now...

Do learn now,

or

there will be

Now or never.

Too much knowledge

in Wiki.

I looked up,

I feel I just know a bit of the bit!

Too little that I Knew.

We Have A Cheap FUEL PRICE? Who SAYS???

UAE - RM1.19/litre
Eygpt - RM1.03/litre
Bahrain - RM0.87/litre
Qatar - RM0.68/litre
Kuwait - RM0.67/litre
Saudi Arabia - RM0.38/litre
Iran - RM0.35/litre
Nigeria - RM0.32/litre
Turkmenistan - RM0.25/litre
Venezuela - RM0.16/litre
MALAYSIA - RM2.70/litre

School Uniform is Too Sexy?

The school uniform is too sexy until students getting raped?

Beware! You Are Not Ignored!

Like it or not, bloggers are here to stay and they have to be reckoned with.

So, bloggers, be careful of what you write and the content in your blog. It may cause you fatal consequences as seen to Raja Petra.

Do not carry any biased news. Be true to yourself and others will believe and appreciate what you write. Above all, beware of negative materials that go against Sedition Act.

Pray for Them

Pray for the Sichuan earthquake victims...

There Will Be Blood

Malaysian riot police stand guard as protesters hold banners during a demonstration in Shah Alam, Malaysia, Friday, March 14, 2008. Hundreds of ruling party members protested outside the administrative headquarters of the opposition-ruled state of Penang on Friday in the first sign of partisan tensions after the weekend elections, police said.

Hundreds of ruling party members protest outside the administrative headquarters of the opposition-ruled state of Penang, Friday, March 14, 2008. Some 300 United Malays National Organization members took part in the demonstration, chanting slogans and waving banners, the spokesman said by telephone.

A protester shouts slogans in front of Malaysian riot police during a demonstration in Shah Alam, Malaysia, Friday, March 14, 2008. Hundreds of ruling party members protested outside the administrative headquarters of the opposition-ruled state of Penang on Friday in the first sign of partisan tensions after the weekend elections, police said.

Protesters listen to United Malays National Organization State Secretary Azhar Ibrahim , center left, during a protest in Penang Island, Friday, March 14, 2008. Hundreds of ruling party members protested outside the administrative headquarters of the opposition-ruled state of Penang on Friday in the first sign of partisan tensions after the weekend elections, police said.

United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) supporters carry a banner reading, "Lim Guan Eng did not respects the Malays in Penang" during a protest outside the state government building in Malaysia's northern state of Penang March 14, 2008. Hundreds of protesters, shouting "Long live the Malays" and "Don't push the Malays out of Penang" demonstrated for a half-hour until police asked them to leave.

United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) supporters carry a banner reading, "Anwar Ibrahim is a traitor to the Malays", during a protest outside the state government building in Malaysia's northern state of Penang March 14, 2008. Hundreds of protesters, shouting "Long live the Malays" and "Don't push the Malays out of Penang" demonstrated for a half-hour until police asked them to leave.

Penang's new Chief Minister waives summonses

NEW Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has introduced a series of populist decisions from giving a one-time waiver of summonses issued by local councils to the abandoning of New Economic Policy measures by the state administration.

He said the state government also wanted to foster harmonious relations with the Federal Government in all respects and he would seek an appointment with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to discuss moves to address the needs of the people of Penang.

He said this during a press conference after being sworn in as Chief Minister at his new office in Komtar here on Tuesday.

Mr Lim said the key areas of the new agenda for Penang included the economy, governance and social needs of the people.

He said the agenda for change would 're-establish rule by the rakyat.'

He also said that the Chief Minister, state exco members, speaker and deputy speaker, as well as the heads of the Penang and Seberang Prai municipal councils would be required to publicly declare their personal assets.

On the move to waive summonses issued by the Penang and Seberang Prai Municipal Councils before March 11, Mr Lim said the move was to help reduce the burden faced by the people, especially the poor.

However, further offences of such nature would not be excused, he said.

Mr Lim said he hoped to discuss with Mr Abdullah the possibility of using Petronas' proceeds to fully fund the construction cost of the Federal Government's second Penang Bridge project.

He also hoped federal funding to Penang would not be affected by the change of government, adding that the funding was provided for under the Federal Constitution.

'I don't think Abdullah wants to see Penangites suffer just because they exercised their right to vote in the March 8 elections,' he said.

On how he felt being the Chief Minister, Mr Lim replied: 'Being a former prisoner, I did not expect to sit on the chief minister's chair. It is really a transformation and quite an experience for me.' -- The Star/ANN.

Do you think Lim Guan Eng ROCKZ??

He is OUT!

Outgoing Penang Chief Minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon and four Cabinet ministers had lost in Malaysia's general election as at 11pm. Dr Koh, who is also Gerakan acting president, was defeated by Dr P. Ramasamy of the DAP in the Batu Kawan parliamentary constituency in Penang. Works Minister and MIC president S. Samy Vellu lost the Sungai Siput seat in Perak he has held since 1974 to Dr D. Jeyakumar of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin lost to Johari Abdul of PKR in the contest for the Sungai Petani parliamentary seat in Kedah. Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Jalil lost the Lembah Pantai seat in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur to new face Nurul Izzah Anwar of PKR. Nurul Izzah is the daughter of PKR adviser and former DPM Anwar Ibrahim.

Today in Penang History

Who WINS? Who LOSES? You know it.

An ethnic Chinese man cycles past election campaign posters put up by the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) in Georgetown on the northern Malaysian island state of Penang March 6, 2008. Malaysia will go to the polls on Saturday.


An ethnic Malay man waits as he tries to cross a street in front of an election campaign banner from the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) in Georgetown on the northern Malaysian island state of Penang. Malaysia will go to the polls on Saturday.



Malaysian walk next to Malaysia opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) and ruling National Front coalition election campaign banners in downtown Penang Island, Malaysia Thursday, March 6, 2008. Malaysians will vote in the general elections on Saturday.

Malaysia opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) election campaign banners flap in the wind in downtown Penang Island, Malaysia Thursday, March 6, 2008. Malaysians will vote in the general elections on Saturday.

Rocket logos of the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) in northern Penang state. Polls opened in Malaysia on Saturday as voters cast ballots for 222 parliamentary seats and 12 state legislatures, with the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition expected to extend its half-century rule.

Lim Guan Eng, Secretary-General of the opposition party, Malaysian Democratic Action Party or DAP, reacts during a press conference in Penang Island, Malaysia, Saturday, March 8, 2008. Malaysia's opposition party threatened on Saturday to hand the ruling coalition its biggest upset in 40 years by winning the northern island state of Penang, sources on both political sides said.

How to Survive the BUSINESS OF LIVING

Real is the person who does not define happiness as an absence of problems. Surviving this business of living is a difficult ordeal at times. How can we retain a healthy sense of humor and experience a sense of balance in our lives? How can we realistically and yet with a sense of wonder live fully and not just survive? How can we maybe even celebrate this business of living? To answer some of these questions we will focus on seven points.

***Life Isn't Fair***

No matter how good we get at this business of living, none of us gets out of it alive. Frustrating, isn't it! Life doesn't always deal us a good hand and doing our best doesn't always pay off with a positive.

***Suffering***

Growth is seldom easy and pain is an integral part of our human condition. Everybody hurts. It's just that some of us are better actors in hiding the pain we feel. Seldom if ever ... are all of our ducks in a row.

***Loneliness and Alikeness***

Dr. Albert Schweitzer said, "We are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness." We have all known moments of apartness and empty loneliness. Embracing that reality is essential if we are to cope effectively.

***Personal Responsibility***

We each have a choice to be either a death-peddler or a life-giver. We are responsible for the choices we make. We can become most of what we wish to be if we are willing to change and pay the price.

***Self Worth***

A poster reads, "God don't make junk." People are special and each is, "Beautiful in his/her own way." We are more than our accomplishments!

***People Need People***

Life is not meant to be lived in isolation. All of life occurs within relationships. We need to know we are needed and so do those we need.

***Mystery***

Life is not just one big problem to be solved. Rather, it is a mystery to be experienced, all the more meaningful and beautiful when it is shared and celebrated with other persons who are committed to "growing deep, not just tall!"

Third Class Mentality in Chung Ling High School

Prologue slash Interlude

*** ***

Are they hypocrites? Are they the rotten apples? Are they drowned in their own indulgence just because they are the so-called teachers in this school? What are they? No one knows, only them.

No enthusiasm in teaching, sleep in the class, no sympathies towards students, not anything. Should they get fired and asked to wake up in their overindulgent selves? YES! They are no less than society trash.

*** ***

Can you even think of a well known school has this phenomenon? Yes, it may not happen to you. It may not happen to some high ranked school in Penang Island. To me, this school is well known for its name and I think it has been notorious for its teachers’ quality.

In Chung Ling, this phenomenon happens always. Not that you do not believe, it is too good to be true, eh? However, now, it is not the truth anymore! Third class mentality can be seen anywhere at any corner in this school.

*** ***

Your mother’s friend: “Which school is your son studying at now?”
Mother: “Oh, he is now studying in Chung Ling High School.”
Your mother’s friend: “Wow! Wow! That is a great school to be in. my child cannot even enter the school after his UPSR because his results do not meet the school’s requirements... What a waste... (Your mother’s friend seems to be very impressed by Chung Ling High School.)
*** ***

I believe your mother’s friend will sigh for his son’s incompetence, incapability and regrets that her son cannot study in this school...

I cannot deny anymore that Chung Ling has the system breakdown of the administration. For those who still have not dip a taste of HOW GOOD Chung Ling High School is may think that it is a rare opportunity to study in this well known school and be proud of their children. I have studied here, for the seventh year in year 2008 for my Upper Sixth Form. Seven years... seven years in this school, this school is rotting from day to day, from time to time...

Talk about teachers. You find undedicated ones, irresponsible ones, those who pin point students and can I say, those hypocrites? There are many types of teachers in Chung Ling High School, too many until I cannot even think out a list of them! HOW PATHETIC. Nowadays, more and more “newbie” – new and inexperienced teachers – eh? – so-called teachers. They do not teach with their hearts; they teach with their mouth and ass. What they do is just read out the whole passage or anything or even everything written in the text, without further explanations.

*** ***
Student A: Teacher, what is meant by “tantalizing”?
Student B: Sir, how to solve this equation by multiplying them? I cannot get the whole picture here.
Student C: Sir, what happens to the chemical reaction after the concentration is being increased? Can you explain it?
Student D: Teacher, you told us that we have to finish the assignment by this Friday, but you did not tell us how you would want us to do it?
*** ***

Teacher A: You find the answer in the book by yourself!
Teacher B: I do not know! (The worst teacher I had ever seen in my life.)
Teacher C: You do your own assignment! Do not ask me how. I ask you to do and not to ask me how! Keep quiet!
Teacher D: Are you stupid enough to not know the word? Idiot! (There is this type of teachers in Chung Ling High School, do not be surprised.)

***

All sorts of inquiries and questions and unsolved problems of students were actually turned down by teachers. How pathetic!

To make the matter worst, they even sleep in class throughout their lessons. Is this what a school for? To contain all these moron teachers and let them cultivate, nurture and educate our next generation? I think I would like to send my children to private tutors or even start school schooling rather than letting my children go to school flooded with bunches of incapable, incompetence and irresponsible teachers!

I have seen this throughout my years in Chung Ling High School and this is not a rarity anymore. Not anymore...

They rather sit in front of the classroom and pretend nothing happens in the class rather than start their lessons. Believe me, believe it! You can spot the NOT in Chung Ling High School.

Some times ... some times ... They can be said “dedicated” and “hardworking” for a period of time...

They are likely to be said that they dislike to be blamed on something they do not do. Likewise, they will “do their best” sometimes to shown the parents they are doing their duties as teachers. They do not give home works some times, and here to go, they give a lot of home works some times. Eh? A little contradictory, is it not? Wow! Home works in bulk! How great and nice they are to the students. But, they were on a purpose of, just to show the parents that they have been doing their job to educate their children with home works, bunch of home works. How bravo they are in acting! I think they can be the best actors or actresses nominees for the Oscar Awards or even the Grammy Awards. ACTS AFTER ACTS. Without the feeling of getting bored... How great it is!

They specifically choose a “right” time. The exam spree! When the exam or test is drawing nearer and nearer, closer and closer, tah-dah! Home works are popped out of the student’s bag. Bunch and bunch of home works. Students cannot even breathe with their mouths! Is this a way how a teacher should be? You think of that and tell me. This is not a rarity, again. This is the truth. I am watching it everyday, as this happens to me and my brother.

How pathetic the teachers can be in Chung Ling High School... rotting in the nest!

And, lessons are not supposed to be a carol or al-Quran preaching time. Lessons need to be carried on with explanations and on-going participation by both parties, teachers and students. There must be interactions between them. Some teachers are so great and fluent in preaching the students during their lessons.

Definitely to say, there are still some dedicated teachers. But, not more that I can think of. They can be counted even with your ten fingers only.

That is not something going wrong with the students; instead, it is the teachers.

You cannot have a great expectation over the teachers, you yourself are the one to have determination to walk your path and color your life. Do not let the teachers mislead you! You choose your own way.

P/S: If you wish to know more about what I have been experienced in school, you can comment on this and leave me with further requests and questions. I would be glad to help and provide you with more information.

You shouldn't rush for your True Love!

There are many reasons why you shouldn't rush to find your true love. One of the main reasons is because when you rush through life hoping to find your true love and your soul mate , your good judgment will disappear. What i mean by that is you seem blind to their characteristics. You Will find someone and think to yourself " this is the one " but that person will end up breaking your heart because you did not pay attention to the signs telling you that the relationship is bad or even dangerous. Women usually make the mistake of rushing to find love and they soon regret it after they have their heart broken a dozen times or after they get beaten a dozen times or both. So be patient , allow love to find you.

This is a article for those who want to find their true love at young age. My advice is not to rush for love. Love will find you.

Like what happens now, someone has been so-called deeply in love with someone, tell you the truth, this is not love, this is admiration, perhaps not either, and this is ridiculous. You cannot love a person without meeting him/her, without knowing him/her and yet, you wanted him/her to be with you every moment and every minute! What I just called -- RIDICULOUS.

You can neither love a person without knowing him/her nor meeting him/her personally. What happens nowadays is what I call "one sided love".

Starting ‘em Young(er)

It used to be that folks would look at their children fondness and pride as the young ones ventured out on their own. Typically, they would say: “They grow up so fast, don’t they?”

Lately, however, it seems more and more parents have cause to lament: “They go wrong so young, don’t they?”

As if city dwellers didn’t have enough worries, what with Mat Rempit, snatch/slash/smash thieves, robbers, rapists, carjacking gangs and psychotic motorists, now we have the threat of “terror teens”.

These are gangs of teenagers – dozens of them – who have reportedly taken to haunting parts of Kuala Lumpur after dark.

It is said they beat up and rob passers-by, harass shopkeepers and their customers, sniff glue and in general make a nuisance/menace of themselves.

KL’s gangs of youngsters are believed to be in the employ of syndicates which engage them to steal hot items like mobile phones and gadgets.

Some of these juveniles are even thought to be from well-to-do families, going by their expensive hairdos and clothes. So, it looks like the full path for the aspiring Malaysian career criminal is now complete. The pieces are all in place for an early start to one’s life of crime.

You begin as a teen terror/juvenile delinquent. Then you “graduate” to Mat Rempit, or maybe snatch thief.

At the same time, you move up from sniffing glue to smoking ganja and then doing hard drugs.

It’s a short hop to drug trafficker or carjacker or robber or rapist or kidnapper or gangland muscle.

The pay and the hours may be appealing but the benefits suck. There’s no insurance or provident fund, and instead of a corner office, the best you can hope for after scoring that huge payday is a corner plot in your hometown cemetery.

The career highlight would be getting shot dead while trying to run down/escape from/shoot it out with the police; or perhaps done in by your own buddies when you become an inconvenience, an obstacle or a threat.

But it will be like this only if everyone gives up on the wayward kid and allows him/her to continue down the path to ruin; only if there are no parents, family members, friends or teachers who care.

Do these troubled teens have such anchors in their lives? Chances are that there’s at least one person in each youngster’s life who can reach out and make a difference.

The kind of problem we’re seeing are no different from what we’ve been reading about and viewing in news reports and TV-movies for years – only they used to take place in the so-called (in the words of some politicians) decadent, culturally/morally bankrupt, materialistic and ill-mannered place.

So how did this social ill seep into our guarded, respectful, filial, moral society?

Chances are, many of these delinquents fall into bad company because of being neglected, or ignored, or losing faith – becoming invisible and voiceless in their own homes, schools and peer groups for a variety of reasons.

I strongly believe that a lot of the time, they just want acknowledgement and respect – for their methods of expression, their opinions, and their identity.

It’s when they realize that the so-called mutual respect so frequently cited by their elders is actually just a one-way street that the rebellion begins.

So we shouldn’t be surprised that these wayward teens go the way of Oliver Twist. Like Charles Dickens’ young protagonist, they may have first hooked up with someone more or less in their age group (like the Artful Dodger) who in turn led them to an older criminal mastermind (a Fagin type), complete with murderous associate (Bill Sykes).

But, as harsh and gritty as Dickens’ tale was, Oliver still had a happy ending.

However, there isn’t one, or even a grad-bag or mixed blessings, waiting for today’s real-life Oliver; not if the people who matter in their lives do not intervene in time.

Parents owe it to their children to be aware of their whereabouts at all times, and to show some concern for what they get up to. Certainly, your kids deserve better than to be offloaded on someone else at the first available opportunity.

Older family members have an obligation to give a damn about their nephews, nieces, siblings, cousins, or grandkids.

Teachers and schools ... wow, there’s an entire column I there about what our education system can do to make the process vital and relevant, and not alienate so many of those who go through it. Suffice to say that for a start, we should seriously stop perpetuating the kiasu syndrome of scoring double-digit distinctions.

I believe it is not too late for these teen gangsters and other underage criminals.

It is only incumbent upon society to NOT write them off, or consign them to the scrap heap of life – something we do all too well, and way to readily.

They have to be shown that there is something better for them, and this can only happen with the support and love of family and friends.

It’s also time our society caught up with its social ills, in terms of outreach and support programmes – and most importantly, parenting education.

Finally, for those stubborn juvenile delinquents who think crime is glamorous and preferable to making an honest go of life, there’s nothing like a Scared Straight programme to put them back on track.

That was the title of an Academy Award-winning documentary from 1978 that featured a gang of brash, real-life juvenile delinquents who were taken to New Jersey state prison where they were harangued by a group of life-term convicts.

It was an attempt to scare them out of a life of crime, and it succeeded. Today, all the members of that initial group lead responsible lives.

Sequels followed, and many American states introduced similar programmes.

If memory serves me correctly, we’ve experimented with this concept a little here but nothing on an organized, nationwide scale.

Perhaps such a programme might work here too: exposing our own terror teens to the harshness of prison life and having them hear tales of woe and misery first-hand from those who have been chewed up by the system.

And if any kid still thins there is appeal in a life of crime, well, it won’t be long before the realization dawns that “life” and “crime” don’t go together at all.