Flash Mobs

OK, there must be more to this than I could gather from reading the Oregonian‘s Editorial today. Here are the first paragraphs:

“Portland, we have a problem, and it’s only going to get worse as the weather gets better: Big swarms of teenagers, called “flash mobs,” collecting in various hot spots around the city.

Just because you haven’t encountered such a mob yet doesn’t mean you won’t. Often, they text-message each other on their cell phones about where to go next, keeping one step ahead of the police. Right now, one favorite hangout is McCoy Park.

These groups of kids are intimidating and inherently dangerous, not only for anyone who gets in their way, but also for the kids themselves. Many aren’t nearly as old or tough as they look. They aren’t lost to this community by any means. But they’re certainly headed in the wrong direction.”

What kinds of problems are these crowds of teenagers causing? How are they “intimidating and inherently dangerous”?

Whenever I’m around mass quantities of teenagers, which is relatively often in a variety of situations, the feeling that overwhelms me isn’t fear, rather the sensation of being rendered completely invisible. And if I were out in a park anywhere, after 10:15 p.m., I wouldn’t feel particularly safe, in fact I might feel more safe with a large crowd of teenagers than with one or two. Most Portland parks close at midnight, anyway. But what it the problem the Editorial wants solved – the fact that since being in a park after midnight is outlawed, only outlaws breaking both park rules and curfew are there?

I need more information here. All the Editorial tells us is that kids like to text-message each other and gather in different locations. Presumably part of the problem is that the assemblies are after curfew hours (in Portland, 10:15 p.m. if there’s school the next day, midnight if there isn’t), since the O calls for greater pressure on parents to attend classes if their kids are out later. This despite the fact that all the parents cited in a previous sweep were mothers. The Editorial doesn’t mention that – it states,

“So it was disappointing the other day when some Portland parents failed to show up for the first of a series of classes designed to help them. Portland police had cited these parents as part of a curfew sweep earlier this spring, and a juvenile court judge had asked them to attend the series of classes.”

Are they talking about the mothers? Odd that the word “parent” is chosen, when in this O blog post, the headline is “Moms”. If they recognized only mothers were available to be cited, perhaps there would be a wider conversation about family issues/needs when children are out late unsupervised. And did anyone ask the mothers what time and place would be convenient for them to attend such classes?

If the police couldn’t find even one father to ticket for curfew infractions, maybe the solution to the problem isn’t as simple as it may seem. From reading this Editorial, I can’t even tell what the problem is.