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This is scary. The article is talking specifically about Skowhegan. Half of Skowhegan teens feel it is normal to use alcohol and drugs. One in four will experience an abusive dating relationship. And Skowhegan has experienced a recent wave of pretty serious juvenile crime.
While it is encouraging to see that the community is taking action, and that 300 people showed up, I wonder if the people who really needed to show up -- notably the parents of the delinquents -- were there.
So my question:
Is this a problem throughout rural Maine, or is something in Skowhegan's water making the teens go nuts?
Specifically: What about Bangor?
I know that no town is utopia, but these recent crimes in Skowhegan are pretty serious.
Skowhegan seems to be going through a mini-outbreak of juvenile crime. A couple of years ago it was Calais, and Bethel had some problems recently. My observation, FWIW, is that there is usually a small group, usually no more than three or four, kids at the core of these things who serve as the focus and the instigators. In Calais, for example, a couple of teen-aged girls who were hooked on Oxycontin were responsible for a small crime wave. Once this in-group of delinquents gets caught or moves or grows up, things calm down again.
As for the alcohol and drug usage, you'll see figures like that on almost any survey of teenagers anywhere in the country. Sexual experience surveys also score big. I take them all with a huge grain of salt, because kids like to boast and like to try to shock their elders. And among older teens in particular alcohol isn't uncommon anyway. That was true when I was 18, back in the 1960s. Still is today.
Our business and cabin is just north of Skowhegan. As an outsider, I have observed some dramatic changes in that town over the past few years--for the positive. When I first drove through there almost 4 years ago, the town looked desolate and run down. Today, they have incorporated a "Shop Skowhegan" campaign and have brought many new businesses to the community. I do see some (as in a few groups of maybe 4 or 5) kids that "appear" to look as if they are just drifting around or into the grunge/punk scene. However, I have never felt unsafe there.
I also know that area towns around Skowhegan have experienced a rise in break-ins and thefts. I believe this is attributed to lack of work in the area and lack of policing. Afterall it is a large rural area.
Remember too that Skowhegan is the county seat for Somerset county which brings in all kinds of individuals for the welfare and unemployment offices. Maybe my statement isn't fair as there are those that have a true need for state and government services but the unfortunate truth is that there are many others that just collect a check and live their whole lives that way.
I agree with the previous poster, any teenaged survey in any town in the US will include some undesirable responses. There is no way to know how the survey was taken. Did the surveyor only look to the kids that were around town during school hours? IMO, I wouldn't take those articles to heart.
This, I believe, is an example of the "bad seed". Every town has a few, some worse than others...
As Coaster said, the problem comes and goes in almost every town. One or two bad kids (bad parents?) can really skew the figures given the relative size of most towns and cities in Maine. With only 1.2 million citizens statewide, it doesn't take much to cause a spike in the crime statistics.
Remember too that Skowhegan is the county seat for Somerset county which brings in all kinds of individuals for the welfare and unemployment offices. Maybe my statement isn't fair as there are those that have a true need for state and government services but the unfortunate truth is that there are many others that just collect a check and live their whole lives that way.
This doesn't really make any sense. Why would anyone receiving assistance need to actually live in Skowhegan, or really be there any longer than the (infrequent) hour-long visit to their case worker? I can assure you that there are plenty of people in Somerset county receiving assistance in one form or another, and most of them do not live in Skowhegan. I'm completely in agreement that there are people who abuse social services such as Food Stamps, Disability, and TANF, but I would guess that it would be less than 1% of all recipients.
As to the original topic- I don't see the same trend down here on DI, but the community is smaller and I think that makes a HUGE difference. I hope it's not a sign of things to come throughout Maine..
Last edited by deerislesmile; 06-29-2007 at 08:54 PM..
Then you talk about in town, and you ask about life in the city?
I started it ages ago before we made our trip. Skowhegan is certainly what I would consider rural. At the time, we were considering Bangor, so I threw that question in.
Bangor isn't an option for us anymore, so talk about whatever you want.
This doesn't really make any sense. Why would anyone receiving assistance need to actually live in Skowhegan, or really be there any longer than the (infrequent) hour-long visit to their case worker? I can assure you that there are plenty of people in Somerset county receiving assistance in one form or another, and most of them do not live in Skowhegan. I'm completely in agreement that there are people who abuse social services such as Food Stamps, Disability, and TANF, but I would guess that it would be less than 1% of all recipients.
As to the original topic- I don't see the same trend down here on DI, but the community is smaller and I think that makes a HUGE difference. I hope it's not a sign of things to come throughout Maine..
New guy, second post!
replying to juvie crime in rural areas and the above quoted post:
Without making any speculation, I'll just state what I have observed and hope its respected as an observation. Before I moved to Maine, I used to live in Central Massachusetts. When living there, I used to go from one end of town to the next without any disruption. Gangs of juvies were minimal or in my case, one large family that managed to turn a loving community into a paranoid group. After all these kids were either killed through their stupidity, or arrested, the family was "convinced" that relocating was a good idea. Neighborhood watch. After a while, neighbors became neighbors again and people were able to feel safe again and things went back to normal. There was the occasional, neglected child doing something whether it was materials being stolen in cars, broken windows, or a house sneak in (doors unlocked) with petty/odd things taken. Fast forward about 10 years.... Plastics and wire works was the main income for the area. And though not many worked there overall, the economy from it made the area thrive. Parades were fantastic and community events were always incredible. However, a new decade, a new president, and a new set of laws made their products competitive and overseas could beat them hands down, within a few short years later, businesses that stood the test of time had no choice but to fold. And with it came a domino effect: One by one, local businesses began shutting down, streets started becoming spares. Thrift shops that couldnt get at least 1-3 customers a week had to hire new people, and moved to the larger stores that were closed.
The people that everyone used to love in the community were the elders, these elders were dead or dying, and without them, there seemed to be another change. Not new buildings, not new outside people, just new atmosphere, and with it brought paranoia. This paranoia seemed to spread like an airborne virus and with it, blame was placed on others, tolerance was greatly lowered, and with it, the children that were being raised appeared to have a lower set of standard as to disrespecting not only the authority of law, but the authority of the new generation of elders. Crime became slowly larger no longer the "oh well, random" to "this is an epidemic." Gangs began to stake areas and the ironic part was these were kids of parents that people knew but yet the kids seemed as if they came from some slum urban area where crime and fear were the norm. People started buying gates for the doors and windows, people locked their cars. Radios with front plates were purchased. Lawns that were decorated and well kept began to wilt and become ill kept. It was at this time, that my father felt that there was nothing left in the hometown that his generations grew up in and sent me to Maine. Being in Maine was wonderful! You never saw a car unless it was a neighbor, if a gun shot rang out, it was once again, the neighbors, hunting on their private land. I have had the privilege to live in areas such as Fort Kent, East Bucksport, Harpswell Area, Ellsworth, Blue Hill, Sedgwick, and Bucksport. Now fast forward to the 90's. I left college and decided to try Winslow which would not have been my first choice, but an old classmate was there and knew people in the area. Winslow and Waterville, though two different areas seperated by a river, started showing signs of exactly the same town that I one called home in Massachusetts. Sure enough, the paper mills started to see trouble and competition and one closed almost immediately, beyond the towns control IMO. Thus, the ball started rolling again. It was truly frustrating for I was seeing the same thing occur once again. I decided to move to Augusta after considering other areas such as Vassalboro, Fairfield, and Clintion but they all seemed to me that they would be harder hit if what I saw before happen here.
Augusta was well enough and nothing unexpected. I read the newspapers and read weekly the deteroation of the Waterville/Winslow area. After about 10 years, heroine came in like it was an 18 wheeler that stopped in front of school yard and was throwing out cash and ice cream. I really did feel for the area. And now of course, the meth clinics are sprouting across Maine with DT'ing teen-tweens taking anything they can get to get their next fix, with no thought towards who or why. And personally, I dont see this getting better for a long time. Granted there are some areas that people feel that they can still leave their cars unlocked and their houses, and its a great feeling to do so. But after relocating in Maine, I have been robbed 11 times in 6 years. And here is the catch: I know whose doing it, the neighborhood knows whose doing it. But once caught, it's a 5 year sentence but then he rats out all his druggy friends and then its back on the street. Granted, this works well for the other people but for us (the locals), this really stinks (note the locals include his relatives that he has stolen from while visiting...!). The other sad part is that this local winner has kids and now they are sporting the same attitude. Eventually, they'll find a loser girlfriend, have kids, and the cycle will continue. I can assure you, in the next 20-30 years, Maine will not be questioning whether they have a problem with juvie crime it will be too obvious to deny it. And boy, if I knew what could be done to prevent it, I'd be rich holding seminars about it for everyone else is just teaching crowd control.
"I'm completely in agreement that there are people who abuse social services such as Food Stamps, Disability, and TANF, but I would guess that it would be less than 1% of all recipients."
I am in complete agreement with this: The hard part is that it takes only 1% to destroy a community!
1% of 3,000 families is 30 families! now imagine a street with 30 families, all with neglected children aged 11-17 running rampant on the streets. Now with these TANF hoovers, they need children to make the money, and TANF only tolerates about 3-4 years and then they send them to work! So what do you do? Have more kids! Renews your TANF and you get to stay home sucking coffee at the table telling your other TANF buds how the world stinks. So for say, the next 20 years, these people are going to have between 3-5 kids just to stay on the system and, they don't want the kids, just the "paycheck" so they neglect their kids, the kids despise their parents, thus rebel against the parents that don't care which causes them to rebel against the schools and grow up to rebel against societies authority. See it now? 30 families, 3 kids min each, that 90 kids raising hell with 30 parents (set of if lucky) that don't give a crap! Add 15-20 more years, that 270 kids! add another and now you have 25-33% of the towns kids with a "Question Authority" attitude but instead of what it meant on our bumper stickers, it applies to everything you have: Your property, your livelihood, your children. So with me noticing this behavior in 1990, by my predictions, by 2020 the earliest, you will start to realize that the area has gone to the scrapper.
The ONLY way I have ever seen anyone live a decent enough life away from this exponentially growing disaster is to live in an area that is so expensive (tax,property) and so non commercial accessing (Apartment buildings, trailers, malls nearby) that it makes it impossible to settle without having 20-30% of your annual income going just to taxes. And the ones that live there and have seen the other side say its worth every penny...
Please don't get me wrong, I love Maine, I wouldn't go elsewhere (ok, maybe Mass). Just stating what I have observed and feel a pattern that I have seen in the past from one state starting to develop here.
P.S. Love Deer Isle and the people there! Heard you're getting the bridge revamped!
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juvenile crime can be found anywhere
