With the advent of summer weather, Chicago, like a few other places, is now faced with what has become the latest problem involving urban youth, wherein masses of exclusively black young people clued and enabled by the telegraph of social media, converge and congregate at a given vicinity from where they spill out into the down town business districts and public beaches, dissolving into swarms of marauding crowds roaming around, yelling and dancing, creating disturbances, engaging in minor skirmishes and vandalism and occasional gun fire, offenses that have led to police intervention and arrests.

Talk about idle time being the playground of the devil!

This has really discouraged ordinary adult Chicagoans and tourists of all races from venturing out to enjoy the sights and sounds of Chicago's summer time festivities.

Similar gathering have been reported by white suburban teenagers on a smaller basis, while Hispanic mobs reportedly confine their swarming to their barrios.

No one seems to know how to deal with the situation other than to blame parents for not controlling their children.

This is a tickingtime bomb ready to explode into rioting and violent law enforcement intervention.

Chicago's black Democratic mayor is tip-toeing around the issue, not wanting to alienate his black base, resorting to the familiar litany of there not being enough resources to supply these young people with wholesome recreation activities, all the while continuing to discourage calls for a 10:pm curfew. Media coverage of these outbreaks are also causing controversy.

Needless to say, NOBODY is happy about the situation, but a certain segment of Chicago's black population is joining the chorus blaming "bad parenting", which they attribute to the "babies havin babies"plague that created a whole generation of young parents who are clueless about child rearing, and who empathize with, rather than discipline their kids.

The latest action taken emanates from the States attorney office, where threats are being made to serve negligent parents of cited offenders, with a fine of $5,000 or up to one year sentence in jail...

In addition to everything else, this is yet another situation to fan the flames of Donald Trump's campaign to blemish Chicago's image.

Point well taken.

10 hours ago, aka Contrarian said:

The latest action taken emanates from the States attorney office, where threats are being made to serve negligent parents of cited offenders, with a fine of $5,000 or up to one year sentence in jail...

While a curfew may be harder to enforce, threaten a Black parents pockets & freedom & maybe they will put clamps on allowing their children to roam aroumd causing chaos & mayhem.😁

Social media is definitely to blame for stirring young folks up to act foolish.😎

8 hours ago, ProfD said:

Social media is definitely to blame for stirring young folks up to act foolish.😎

Lol....it just COULDN'T be their brains.

11 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Lol....it just COULDN'T be their brains.

As I remind other old heads, every generation says the generation behind them is worse.

Young folks have always moved in mobs & packs & gangs to do dumb sh8t. It isn't new.

Social media just makes it easier for them to organize & also for everyone to upload videos reporting it.😎

I’m not familiar with the story @aka Contrarian related but it doesn’t sound like it’s a dozen or so kids—It sounds like it’s hundreds. I think that’s new, if if that is indeed the case.

Of course, social media has a hand in facilitating the sharing of this type of activity however, they are not completely the blame. I’m not sure the parents are either. It’s probably a combination of social media poor parenting, kids not knowing what the hell to do for fun.

Yeah, I can see every generation thinking the generation before them is worse. When I was a kid, all we needed was a slab of concrete and chalk and we could play all kinds of games all day long.

The issue is not about whether this generation is worse than the preceding ones or about finger pointing. That's all a waste of time.

It concerns what to do about what is currently happening.

Problem solving gets lost in the shuffle of idle reminiscing.

Maybe fines and jail sentences will have an effect.

Or perhaps these roving hordes of young folks will get scared straight, after a body count builds up at the hands of trigger happy cops...

Such is life.

59 minutes ago, aka Contrarian said:

The issue is not about whether this generation is worse than the preceding ones or about finger pointing. That's all a waste of time.

Or perhaps these roving hordes of young folks will get scared straight, after a body count builds up at the hands of trigger happy cops...

Agreed. Coming up with a solution that keeps 1) young folks out of jail & alive especially if trigger happy cops show up & 2) parents from fines & jail time is more important.😎

18 hours ago, ProfD said:

As I remind other old heads, every generation says the generation behind them is worse.

Young folks have always moved in mobs & packs & gangs to do dumb sh8t. It isn't new.

Social media just makes it easier for them to organize & also for everyone to upload videos reporting it.😎

Prof......YOU were a teenager before.
Did YOU run out in the street with a pack of other boys blocking traffic, grabbing your crotch, and throwing up a finger at the police and passing drivers with a big grin on your face?

Did you get together with other boys AND GIRLS by the dozens and go out invading liquor stores smashing up shit and snatching liquor and snacks out of the place with big grins on your faces?

These kids are different.
The Crack Babies have grown up and have produced children of their own....lol.

Perhaps the previous generations saw the next generation of youth as being worse because they actually ARE worse.

9 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Prof......YOU were a teenager before.
Did YOU run out in the street with a pack of other boys blocking traffic, grabbing your crotch, and throwing up a finger at the police and passing drivers with a big grin on your face?

Did you get together with other boys AND GIRLS by the dozens and go out invading liquor stores smashing up shit and snatching liquor and snacks out of the place with big grins on your faces?

As a Gen-Xer, I did not act a fool but I had plenty friends who did the same sh8t & in some cases much worse.

Back in the late 1970s/through mid-1980s, DC had gangs. Many of them graduated to become drug dealers & killers.

Those same Gen-Xers are either stretched out in the penitentiary or no long longer with us. Some of them managed to reproduce too.

9 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

These kids are different.
The Crack Babies have grown up and have produced children of their own....lol.

It is true that Crack babies have become adults & reproduced.

These young people are doing the same dumb sh8t as their parents (Gen-Y) & in some cases...grandparents (Gen-X).😎

So, what can be deduced from this situation is that it has a history, and is an ongoing situation.

In reality, not all problems have solutions when you're dealing human with beings.

That's a hard reality to accept.

ProfD

As a Gen-Xer, I did not act a fool but I had plenty friends who did the same sh8t & in some cases much worse.

Back in the late 1970s/through mid-1980s, DC had gangs. Many of them graduated to become drug dealers & killers.

Those same Gen-Xers are either stretched out in the penitentiary or no long longer with us. Some of them managed to reproduce too.

In our generation them crazy ass "down for whatever" niggaz were actually only a few and far in between.

That's why they stood out.

Because most of us....the vast majority....were NOT like that.

Today is different.

Today nearly EVERY kid wants to be a thug, clown, somebody nots to be fucked with.

So the vast majority are smoking weed, getting tattoos and clowning in the streets.

So the difference isn't so much the behavior as it is the PERCENTAGE of those engaging in the behavior.

These young people are doing the same dumb sh8t as their parents (Gen-Y) & in some cases...grandparents (Gen-X).

That's another thing.

They grew up hearing stories from their parents and grandparents about how crazy the 80s and especially the 90s were and they have a distorted image that every young Black male was walking around like Tupac.

So they want to make a name for their generation too.

Cynique

In reality, not all problems have solutions when you're dealing human with beings.

All problems DO INDEED have solutions.
We may not KNOW what those solutions are, but they do exist.

If it doesn't have a solution, it's not actually a problem.

Efforts to turn homosexuals "straight" , come to mind....lol.

2 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

In our generation them crazy ass "down for whatever" niggaz were actually only a few and far in between.

That's why they stood out.

Because most of us....the vast majority....were NOT like that.

Back in the 1980s, I witnessed brawls between neighborhood gangs with 30-40 n8gglets throwing punches at each other. Later on, they started bringing guns. This was before Gangsta Rap took off.😎

On 5/31/2026 at 12:27 AM, R. E. Hayes said:

Point well taken.

@R.E. Hayes: I'd be interested in hearing more input from you since you show promise of providing fresh and what hints at being succinct observations.

4 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

All problems DO INDEED have solutions.

@Pioneer1 Since you have no proof of that, it's nothing more than an opinion given in response to my opinion.

ProfD

Back in the 1980s, I witnessed brawls between neighborhood gangs with 30-40 n8gglets throwing punches at each other. Later on, they started bringing guns. This was before Gangsta Rap took off.😎

Two questions for you:

Did you see GIRLS out there fighting and scrapping in the street like so many are doing today?

Did you see youth attacking and killing the elders and even their own parents like so many are doing today?


You're right.
Outside of Los Angeles and Chicago....I remember there were indeed a lot more street gangs in the community back in the 70s and 80s than there are today.

Know why?
Because a lot of these young people are so fucked up they don't even have enough sense TO unite with others in the same neighborhood and form a "good" street gang...lol.

Back in the day gangs used to have CODES where they wore certain clothes, talked a certain way, respected and obeyed leadership.
So if it's "going down tonight"....everybody was down and got involved.

Half of these little niggaz running the streets today are too fucked up in the head to even get along with eachother.
When was the last time you saw more than 3 young AfroAmerican men walking together?
You may see a bunch of Africans sitting packed to a table or walking down the street, but you don't see a lot of AfroAmerican men with eachother today because a lot of the youth can't get along with eachother in a basic social way.
.....let alone organize a gang with actual leaders calling shots that they'll obey.

All of them want to be the leader.....so they end up falling out with eachother.

The best they can do at uniting is these little flash mobs where nobody is in charge and everybody is doing their own thing.





aka Contrarian

Since you have no proof of that, it's nothing more than an opinion given in response to my opinion.

The "proof" of my statement is in the very nature of the word "problem" itself.
The antonym of PROBLEM is SOLUTION

If it is actually a PROBLEM then one of the SOLUTIONS is for it being in the state it was before the problem developed.

Again, we may not KNOW what the solution is or how to arrive at it....but we know it does exist.

Name a problem that doesn't have a solution.

52 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Two questions for you:

Did you see GIRLS out there fighting and scrapping in the street like so many are doing today?

Did you see youth attacking and killing the elders and even their own parents like so many are doing today?

I saw it all. DC was off the hook back in the 1980s.

58 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

When was the last time you saw more than 3 young AfroAmerican men walking together?

I would not be surprised if young folks are not mobbed up regularly considering how social media silos them.😁

OTOH, technology does allow these young people to organize quickly & cut up out in them streets.🤣😎