Signs that people may rebel or are rebelling from control
and punishment models
Similar to how the young rebel from parents that are too strict, many
people growing up in communities that are too strict in control and punishment
may also rebel from society. Rebellion does not have to be something that
happens immediately, it can manifest itself within someone and come out later.
A person that harbors ill feelings to society or doesn't think society has
treated them fairly may be more prone to strike back at that society. Even
people that are well-off may strike back later with poor business ethics and
corruption.
The 3-Strikes law is the epitome of legislation that can be perceived as
too extreme in control and punishment by those that are trapped within its web
or have family and friends that were trapped. The following are some statistics
and comments from books and articles that show how people rebel from control
and punishment models and signs that such rebellion is happening now. PLEASE
SEND US NEW DATA AND ARTICLES IF YOU HAVE THEM.
Orange County kids causing problems at Disneyland
Teenagers in Mohawks, dog collars and anarchy patches crowd Tomorrowland.
Groups of ghoulishly dressed youths in the parking lots of Disneyland and
nearby businesses are often seen drinking and smoking joints.
Police say most of the youths around Disneyland call themselves
"punks," "rockers" or "Gothics," and adopt pale
makeup, black blush and lipstick and spooky attire--pointy shoes, Elvira
dresses, velvet capes and dog collars.
Disneyland spokesman John McClntock said that as the number of teenagers
identifying themselves as Gothics and punks has climbed, so have complaints
from ticket-holders about teenagers' dress--leather jackets adorned with
hundreds of safety pins, necklaces and bracelets made up of metal spikes.
McClintok also said that the situation has gotten severe enough this year
(1997) for Disneyland officials to request a greater police presence in the
area. LATimes, 9/22/97.
Youth smoking on the upswing
Despite the national anti-smoking campaigns, two out of every five high
school students in the U.S. regularly use some kind of tobacco. Cigarette
use by high school students has risen one-third over just six years, the
Centers for Disease and Prevention said April 2, 1998.
And though whites remain the heaviest users, smoking has almost doubled
among black students.
The numbers come from the 1997 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a national
survey of 16,000 teens taken every two years.
OCRegister, 4/3/98.
Strohmeyer and Cash, Southside kids make killing look
easy
At 3 a.m., May 25 1997, Jeremy Strohmeyer and David Cash were tired of
hanging around that arcade at the Primadonna casino, 43 miles south of Las
Vegas. Strohmeyer and Cash were both high school seniors at Woodrow Wilson High
School. After playing tag with Sherrice Iverson, Strohmeyer followed Iverson
into the women's washroom where he then molested and killed her. David Cash had
followed Strohmeyer into the bathroom but didn't stop Strohmeyer.
Later, when asked by the Los Angeles Times whether he was appalled that
Strohmeyer had just killed a little girl, Cash answered: " I'm not going
to get upset over somebody else's life. I just worry about myself first. I'm
not going to lose sleep over somebody else's problems."
It is only one incident, but it makes you wonder if other kids are growing
up with this self-interested attitude.
LATimes, 7/19/98.
Drug use by young people increased in 1997
Among those ages 12 to 17, 11.4% reported using some illicit drug within
the past month when they were surveyed in 1997, compared with 9% in 1996. The
number of first-time heroin users was at an all-time in 1996. 171,000 teens in
1996 used heroin for the first time as opposed to on 117,000 first-time users
in 1995. The number of first-time users of marijuana was estimated at 2.54
million in 1996, up from 2.41 million in 1995.
LATimes, 8/22/98.
And this despite the billions of dollars we pump into the "war on
drugs."
Orange County "white" gangs increase
South Orange County is experiencing a new breed of suburban gangs made up
of mostly white, well-to-do teenagers who are blamed for a string of unprovoked
assaults and novice crime sprees. These new "bully gangs" account for
about a third of all gang membership in South County according to Sheriff's
Department investigators.
The gangs model themselves after the grease-haired tough guys of the 1950s
and go by such names as "Upper Class Rebels" and Wanderers."
They started out by limiting themselves to small-scale vandalism such as
smashing car windows, officials said, but over the last year (1998) the gangs
have unleashed more random assaults on unsuspecting victims--usually other
teens who are younger and alone.
"These kids have money and cars and lots of time," said Sgt. Dave
Cherman, who supervises the department's Gang Enforcement Team. "You have
boredom in suburbia and kids with resources, and it's bound to add up to
trouble." LATimes, 10/15/98.
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3-Strikes.
Date last modified: 11/28/98.
