THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE 'YOB'

Violence And Other Antisocial Behavior By Alienated Youths Have
Britons In Fear. Some Say Tony Blair's Aggressive Response Lacks Insight

LONDON - The headline screamed: "Girl Who Killed for Kicks Aged 14."

The girl in question, green-eyed, auburn-haired Chelsea O'Mahoney,
and her crew went on a "happy slap" rampage along London's South Bank
one night 15 months ago. In less than an hour, they beat, kicked and
stomped eight random victims. O'Mahoney filmed it with her cellphone
to add to the teenage gang's only motive - thrill.

One man died. O'Mahoney, the daughter of a heroin addict who was
abandoned to the grim streets of her housing project when she was
just 3 and spent the years that followed in a succession of foster
homes, was sentenced last month to eight years in prison.

The attacks, like something out of "A Clockwork Orange," were an
extreme example of a phenomenon that has become a boogeyman of public
consciousness in Britain: "yobbery," the arrival of a generation
believed to be so alienated from the norms of civilized society that
decent people must live in fear. The word comes from the old slang
term "yob," or "boy" spelled backward, which used to mean a
working-class male but now is more commonly used as a synonym for
thug or hooligan.

The governing Labor Party believes that antisocial behavior is the
No. 1 issue on Britons' minds, more pressing even than concern about
the economy, global warming and the war in Iraq. An almost daily diet
of sensational street crimes, such as the January robbery and killing
of a young banker at an unstaffed London train station, is
intensifying public worry.

As defined by the government, antisocial behavior can be mundane:
public drunkenness or urination, neighbors refusing to turn down
their stereos and teenagers hanging outside shops, intimidating
prospective patrons.

At its extreme, however, it can encompass serious crimes such as
assault, robbery and arson. In one recent example, an intoxicated,
drugged-up man celebrating his 23rd birthday on a pub crawl plunged
from a balcony and fell on a 30-year-old woman. She was left
paralyzed for life, and he was sent to prison for two years for
causing grievous bodily harm.

To address anxieties, Prime Minister Tony Blair unveiled a 40-page
"respect" action plan in January to intervene in the day-to-day lives
of errant families before they, and those around them, are undone by
bad behavior.

The most striking part of his plan was his announcement that families
who are so out of control that they terrorize their neighborhoods
could be evicted from their homes.

Whether they own or rent, these run-amok families could be put
temporarily into supervised accommodations to undergo a barrage of
reeducation. Parents would be shown how to raise their children, and
young people would be trained to live in a society of rules.

Newspapers dubbed the supervised residences "sin bins," even as the
idea drew protests from children's advocates and civil libertarians,
concerned that the government was overemphasizing punishment and
paying too little attention to the root causes of delinquency and crime.

In many cases, it takes close involvement on an individual basis, and
a lot of patience, to turn people around, said Slaney Wright, a
project manager at Fairbridge in London, which works with young
people grappling with a range of difficulties - legal, educational, social.

"It's brilliant that these things are being brought to the front of
the public mind and being discussed," she said of the government's
campaign against antisocial behavior. "But the risk is that it will
further demonize young people, which makes their lives a lot more
difficult and restricts their opportunities a lot more."

One of Fairbridge's clients is Marcia Brown, a 15-year-old who had
been thrown out of her school for misbehaving and arguing with
teachers. Young people are tired of being talked down to, she said.

A resident of the Kilburn neighborhood housing project, Marcia
described a London seldom seen by visitors. It's an "Up the Down
Staircase" world in which almost all youths use drugs, swear at or
ignore their teachers, are labeled "geeks" if they want to learn and
risk a daily gantlet of guns, gangs and "happy slap" assaults on the streets.

Such attacks typically involve unprovoked slaps or punches for the
offenders' fun and the victims' humiliation. The events are usually
photographed for bragging purposes.

In such a tough world, kids could use more sympathy, Marcia said.
"Some adults or teachers tend to take the mick out of children -
like, 'You're so small, you're lower-class to us so we have to treat
you with no respect. You have no feelings, so just move aside. That's
why kids sometimes get sick and tired of that treatment, and
sometimes they actually do like respect."

But she said that thanks to the guidance and support given to her and
other inner-city youths by Fairbridge, a charity in her neighborhood
funded largely by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, she has changed
her view of education.

Now she attends classes four days a week and plans to go to acting
school. She does not want to end up sweeping floors, she said.

"You'll see me in Hollywood in about three years," she predicted with a smile.