www.wiltshire.gov.uk
Information for Parents
To a lot of people, ‘young people hanging around’ is anti social, even if they are not doing anything wrong, but for many young people, there are few attractive or affordable things to do, other than hanging around, and in many neighbourhoods, there are very few alternatives.
If you are worried about asb in your neighbourhood, you can contact the asb coordinator at your local district council.
- Kennet: 01380 724 911
- North Wiltshire: 01249 706111
- Salisbury: 01722 336272
- West Wiltshire: 01225 776655
There are a number of ways for people to deal with asb. The council or the community safety partnership may be able to set up some youth work to provide other opportunities for young people in the area, or to negotiate acceptable ways for the young people to behave – for example, to be allowed to certain facilities. The police can use the powers that they have to designate areas where they can move on people congregating in threatening groups.
Children and young people may feel very threatened by other young people behaving anti socially. Sometimes the behaviour can take the form of bullying and may contain racist or homophobic harassment. Talk with your child to see if this is worrying them. This could be in school, or outside school hours.
Sometimes it may be your child who is behaving anti socially. Talk to them about their behaviour, and see if they realise what impact it is having. Try to stay calm and ask them why they are behaving like this. Young people like to be members of a group, and may not realise that they are behaving badly, they may feel unable to get out of a situation that has developed. You may be concerned that there is alcohol or drugs involved. If you suspect or know that your child is behaving badly in the community, it is likely that they are behaving badly at school too. This might include:
- Being disruptive or rowdy in class
- Threatening staff or other students
- Smoking, drinking or taking drugs
- Playing truant
If your child continues to behave in this way, action may be taken against them or against you. This could be:
- A permanent or fixed term exclusion from school
- An Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC)
- An Anti Social Behaviour Order (ASBO)
- A Parenting Contract or Order
If you have a child under 16, you have certain responsibilities to ensure that they are in school and to control their behaviour when they are out of school. If you consistently fail to do this, there is a possibility that you could also have action taken against you.
If you have any comments or suggestions about the safer schools pages, please send them to saferschools@wiltshire.gov.uk or fill in and return our feedback form.
