North Reading Teens Yelling Obscenities From Car Windows (More Than Average) (Boston: lawyer, neighborhood)

[SpaceGlamster]

I've read all of the replies thus far, and again, I know that kids do a lot of fart-faced things, because they are kids. I'm not denying that. It no longer really bothers me to the extent that it used to, but as it has gradually risen since about two years ago, I am a tad more miffed than usual. I used to yell stuff back at them, but I no longer think its worth it.

I am definitely a bit "different" as you may elude to, as is my girlfriend--both smack dab in the middle of geek and hipster territories, as the naysayers may point out.

I guess I'm not really surprised by teenagers driving around and acting like a***holes. We all acted questionably as "young people." Being relatively fresh out of those awkward years, I just noticed that a lot of this driver-pedestrian etiquette has quadrupled since I was in high school, and seems a lot more vicious as well. I was always a dork in high school, but I was never really subjected to volume of people mouthing off to the level that they seem to do so, these days.

I only wonder if its just the hard economic times or the introduction of MacGyver-style mobile devices that have made the current high school students in my area into narcissistic, little sociopaths. This, along with certain propaganda implemented by their parents.

Karma will come around, so I'm not too bothered.

[johngolf]

The OP said it happened when riding his bike. The roads in greater Boston were never designed for anything other then motor vehicles thus there will be conflicts when bikes and car meet on roads not designed for both. If only verbal, be thankful.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

Nothing in the OP's post indicated the kids were hockey fans. I'm sure this rant comes from somewhere, I'm just not sure where



North Reading went 53% Romney/46% Obama, which means that it's almost as likely that these kids parents voted for Obama as they did for Romney. What's even more likely is that some of the kids had parents who voted for Obama, some of them who voted for Romney, and some who didn't vote. Not everyone in the suburbs (or everyone right of Elizabeth Warren) burns crosses on the weekend, especially in Massachusetts.

Whatever their parents political leanings, I suspect that this is not behavior their parents would approve if they were aware.



People can be mean. Especially popular teenagers. True the world over.

And I'm sure none of these other posters have ever done dumb things as teenagers.

People need to lighten up.

If the worst mayhem going on in town is a few bored teens yelling out the window, perhaps I need to move there...

[bolehboleh]

As someone who hates the NRA, is indifferent to Mitt Romney, but loves the Bruins, I'm just not sure where I stand on this issue

Let's knock it off with the political stuff and attempt to address the OP's original question. Sure boys will be boys, but the question is why do boys in certain towns act like this and others do not.

My only conclusion is that it comes from suburban boredom. Suburbs tend to be uniform and rather boring so anything or anyone that looks or acts our the ordinary are looked at as a threat. And as I said before, when you can drive away and not face street justice, you can act very brave.

[shrinkberry]

I'm a cyclist and the teens in Lexington do this too. For better or worse, this behavior crosses socioeconomic boundaries. And sad to say, it is just as common that adults do this stuff as it is teens.

[thenewtexan]

For kids growing up in the suburbs, the only motivator to make them stop is fear. As a previous poster suggested, take a picture of the tag number, call the police, have them dragged into court for committing a hate crime. I can't imagine this goes on at a noticeably higher rate in North Reading than any other generic suburb.

[bolehboleh]

Originally Posted by thenewtexan

For kids growing up in the suburbs, the only motivator to make them stop is fear. As a previous poster suggested, take a picture of the tag number, call the police, have them dragged into court for committing a hate crime. I can't imagine this goes on at a noticeably higher rate in North Reading than any other generic suburb.

I'm not sure if yelling out of car window would be considered a hate crime even if they comments are racial in nature. I guess if it can proven that they harassed the victim such as driving by over and over and yelling racist comments , then it's possibly a hate crime. Doing it once would probably be protected under the first amendment...doing it over and over might be a crime though.

[pennyone]

Are kids protected under the First Amendment?

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by snatale1

What kind of idiotic nonsense is this? Something wrong with liking a sport or supporting an organization that fights for our rights? Are you kidding me?

I hope you're kidding us!

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by pennyone

Are kids protected under the First Amendment?

Yes! Especially the rotten, homophobic, sexist ones.