Out of control schoolchildren on St Johns Road Post Reply

[Tigger]

Has anyone seen how St Johns Road has turned into a no-go zone for a couple of hours after school?  According to shopkeepers, the Vape shop owner was assaulted by three teenage boys last week whilst the girls tried to make off with a load of vapes.  Last night the waiter from Ploussard (corner of Northcote Road and Battersea Rise) was assaulted by two girls from Bolingbroke Academy and Ark Putney and the police were called.

When are the police going to get the message that these streets (and our children) need protecting from these people?

[NVHusband]

Yesterday, there was definitely an unruly mob of teenagers causing trouble on St John’s Road… the usual; a couple of boys not in school uniform on a Boris or Lime bike accompanied by their posse (in school uniform). You can only deduce some of them have been excluded from school so just waiting for school to finish to hang out with their (unruly but uniformed) mates.

Not too sure if the local McDonalds is a point of congregation of the antisocial school kids from surrounding area or the weather is playing its part , but St John’s Road is best avoided between 345-5pm.

Re the assaults, if there are any pics or recordings, pls also share with the schools involved.

[Rubysmum2013]

I noticed yesterday that there is now a security guard at McDonalds from 3pm.  I have seen some quite scary situations where groups of youngsters have been messing around and have pushed each other onto the road when a bus has been coming.  It seems to be all schools though rather than one in particular. The groups are quite intimidating as well.  Not sure what the answer is but it is a worrying situation.

[NVHusband]

The fact McDonalds has a security guard at 3pm highlights there is a problem with the “restaurant”. All a security guard does is control the mob within the “restaurant”. But what about the street outside?

Maybe McDonald's should close their doors between 330-5pm… something needs to be done to protect innocent pedestrians as well as to protect the mob from themselves.

[Tigger]

The incedent at Ploussard happened at around 5.15 apparently, so probably avoid until at least 5.30.

[DavidWT]

This problem has sadly been going on for some time. I hope the individual from Ploussard is doing OK. The immediate area around McDonalds is definitely the congregating area for these feral kids. I have witnessed the same individuals using intimidation as a means to have fun on more than one occasion but closing McDonalds between 3-5pm is not the answer as they will just gather somewhere else near by. What's needed is some police presence for a while. Doesn't need much, but a parked up police van and 2 or 3 uniformed police keeping an eye out and chatting to local shop owners would be good to see during these hours. How realistic this is is obviously debatable but it should be something that WBC can push for. 
If any kids from Bolingbroke academy have been involved I would be very surprised. But if they have I can tell you the school will come down on them like a tonne of bricks. They are extremely strict on behaviour in and out of the school.
I can't comment on the Ark Putney lot but I know that hundreds seem to flock into Clapham Junction from here once school is out. 

[juliantenniscoach]

No point in closing MacDonald's as the trouble will just shift elsewhere.  As for the schools...............it's very hard for them to crack down on what goes on after hours.  We had a lot of trouble for years with vandalism, drug use and even arson at the Clapham Tennis Courts.  Despite identifying some of the pupils and their schools there wasn't much push back.  It was only when one of them actually got arrested on site that things started to change.

[KatherineHepburn]

I saw this group of kids last week on Northcote. They were being generally abusive and just looked as though they were looking for trouble.
The thing is that they weren't in Bolingbroke Uniform but another uniform that I didn't recognise. It was the wrong colour for Putney Ark also.
My daughter and I ducked into Co-op as the OH was picking something up and I didn't want her to be standing outside solo and we watched as a few of them came in, grabbed cakes and sweets and just walked straight out again. 
Is it possible that these kids are coming to Northcote/ St.John's because they have clamped down on anti-social behaviour at Southside?

And I am afraid to say Homemaker, I couldn't disagree with you more. You are of course alluding to Bolingbroke Academy and the vast majority of us with kids were so very pleased that we were getting a good, local secondary school. I know that it can be a shock to see groups of teenagers when you perhaps only have little kids or when your only experience of secondary education is from the private sector but the vast majority of teenagers are noisy, shouty, funny and harmless. As were we all at that age.

What is occurring currently though is antisocial behaviour from a group of kids, I imagine from a mix of schools. Some kids don't come from great homes. This is a community/social issue that doesn't go away by wishing you didn't have teenagers around you. 

[muddyboots]

Sorry which school are you referring to?

[DavidWT]

I'm afraid I also have to disagree with Homemaker if she is alluding to Bolingbroke Academy. The school has been a wonderful success since it opened. I have first hand experience. The issues happening along St Johns Rd near McDonalds is coming from a mixed groups of young kids - many of which are not in uniform. If there are kids in uniform who are causing some of these issues then we need to try identify them and report them to the relevant school.  

[KatherineHepburn]

What a peculiar thing to say Homemaker:

'This school has been political since it first opened 10 years ago and a group of champagne socialists stopped it being made available for catchment area children & opened it up to children who aren’t local, or respectful within our community. They travel in on buses & trains & quite clearly don’t want to go home.'

The school is filled predominantly with kids from the local primary schools. They have a feeder school system to help create a local community school. So kids from Belleville, Honeywell, Belleville Wix, Wix, John Archer and others that I'm not sure of can apply to the school. Then beyond that it is done on catchment.

I do have a child there and we live locally to the school.

I'm never very sure what people mean when they say champagne socialists... Do you mean labour voters that like the occasional glass of fizz? Well, that'll be me. 
Are we only allowed to support the NHS and public services if we drink bitter? Or water? 

Is Bolingbroke strict? Well, if you're worried about your kid getting a detention for not doing homework or for turning up late then make sure they do their homework and turn up on time. That doesn't seem abusively strict to me but we're all different I guess.

Will there be some poorly behaved kids in the state school system? Yes, of course there will be. There will be poorly behaved adults in life too. This is life. State schools do not have the liberty to just pick and choose, nor are they able to just chuck children out. Where on earth would you like these kids to go? Prison? Perhaps the state could fund them to join the local private schools? Would that balance things out better?

Not all schools will work for all kids. And not all schools will work for all parents. That's life.
However, I have to say that it does sound as if you have an axe to grind here.
My personal opinion is that Bolingbroke is a good school that turns out great kids and it serves our community well. 

What we do about the influx of poorly behaved teenagers to St.John's Road and why it is happening is another thing all together though.

[Tiredmummy2435]

100% agree with this statement.
Have had two children at the school and the head teacher really needs to wake up!

[Teresa1]

Having moved from SW11 to the beautiful Surrey hills a year ago i I read these posts now and wonder why anyone chooses to live in Wandsworth?! Clearly when you have experienced both sides of the fence it’s easier to see the upsides of life beyond nappy valley but If you are lucky enough to have choices, why inflict your families on a neighbourhood frequented by crime, schools like the ones described in this post & places like Southside & Wimbledon centre court shopping centre full of criminals ?!.
Yes the transport is better but most people work from home these days so is it worth it?
A bit off topic but Can someone tell me why you don’t all move somewhere much nicer rather than post all this negativity about where you live & the choices you make . All I ever see on this site and next door is crime.. unfortunately it’s going to get worse not better. The cost of living crisis is really hitting which equals more crime & less police for years to come!

[Starr]

With all due respect Surrey is terribly dull and I don't think many of us living here care for it! Nice place for a walk though haha

[NVHusband]

This post is being hijacked. The original conversation is how St John’s Road is now a no-go zone afterschool.

@Homemaker - if you have an issue with a particular school, pls start a separate thread to address.

Back to the thread; what we can do to address the unruly mob of kids on St John’s Road? They come from different schools so something is attracting them to that particular road.

Is it that they have clamped down on Southside? Is it because Clapham Junction being a central transport hub for kids from surrounding areas (ie. Not local kids causing the problem)?

Whatever the attraction for this mob afterschool, I think Wandsworth council should get more involved and restore some form of civility for their residents.