At various forums, teens discuss flash mobs
Why are there violent "flash mobs" in Philadelphia?
In different settings, different teenagers yesterday offered a variety of views on the furor over flash mobs, including the very term.
They scolded their peers. The boys said they were looking for girls. Some did it to establish a reputation, they said, and some didn't like the label being applied to them. They said the swarming was pointless. They said it probably would continue.
Authorities can't "put some tape on it and it's finished. . . . It's not really that simple," said Martisha Hardy, 17, of Germantown.
Hardy was among five teens given a live, hour-long forum on Power 99 (WUSL-FM 98.9) to offer their takes on flash mobs. The teens are part of a group called YO-ACAP, or the Youth Outreach Adolescent Community Awareness Program, which provides prevention services for young people.
Earlier in the day, from a video screen in an Overbrook High School classroom, school safety coordinator Curry Bailey asked students for their opinions.
"Pointless," one boy called out.
"They're giving us a bad name," a girl said.
"I feel offended at being referred to as a flash mob," another said. The term has become convenient shorthand for the large, destructive gatherings of teenagers that have swarmed the city four times since December.
On Monday and Tuesday, 29 teens were convicted in Family Court of felony rioting for being part of troublemaking gatherings in February and this month.
The Overbrook students were taking part in a school district Webinar on the safe use of social media, which was being shown via Web cam to 10 Philadelphia high schools.
In different settings, different teenagers yesterday offered a variety of views on the furor over flash mobs, including the very term.
They scolded their peers. The boys said they were looking for girls. Some did it to establish a reputation, they said, and some didn't like the label being applied to them. They said the swarming was pointless. They said it probably would continue.
Authorities can't "put some tape on it and it's finished. . . . It's not really that simple," said Martisha Hardy, 17, of Germantown.
Hardy was among five teens given a live, hour-long forum on Power 99 (WUSL-FM 98.9) to offer their takes on flash mobs. The teens are part of a group called YO-ACAP, or the Youth Outreach Adolescent Community Awareness Program, which provides prevention services for young people.
Earlier in the day, from a video screen in an Overbrook High School classroom, school safety coordinator Curry Bailey asked students for their opinions.
"Pointless," one boy called out.
"They're giving us a bad name," a girl said.
"I feel offended at being referred to as a flash mob," another said. The term has become convenient shorthand for the large, destructive gatherings of teenagers that have swarmed the city four times since December.
On Monday and Tuesday, 29 teens were convicted in Family Court of felony rioting for being part of troublemaking gatherings in February and this month.
The Overbrook students were taking part in a school district Webinar on the safe use of social media, which was being shown via Web cam to 10 Philadelphia high schools.