This kind of vandalism seems to occur relatively often in this town. I don't think it is perpetrated by outsiders from Camden or Collingswood or Cherry Hill. I doubt if the Retired Men's club or the Raging Grannies are the culprits. I would venture that this is the alcohol fueled behavior of our adolescent boys or young adult men. Perhaps this would not happen if they had a turf field. Oh wait, they wouldn't be playing outside this time of year. Maybe they need more indoor basketball facilities instead. Maybe the town needs a community center for teens and young adults so they have other things to do beside mindless destruction. And where are the parents? I remember the case with the kids destroying Colleen Falasca's house. What struck me most about that was that the parents who lawyered up did not apologize to her in court. There is something wrong with the values and parenting in this town. I hope the police department can post a reward and perhaps can find the perps who did this. Clearly Tish's 24/7 policy doesn't replace poor parenting and alcohol abuse. This kind of crime costs us all money and distracts the police from more important work.

It's not "Tish's 24/7 policy". It was a School Board 24/7 policy. And what is "relatively often" -- relative to what?
There is indeed clearly something wrong with the values in this town -- when the opportunity to purchase a large parcel of land for the public good is forsaken.
Perhaps you should offer parenting classes . . . . . .

I KNOW that it's drunken adolescents knocking down the street signs in my neighborhood (Mt. Vernon area). I've seen and approached them after an incident. Since I moved to the area some years ago, I have found where the "party spot" is in my neighborhood (I walk my dog in this wooded area). I've confronted several.. to "gangs" of kids walking down our street in the middle of the night screaming and cursing (and "relatively often" is several times a week during the warmer months). I've also had damage and ornamental pieces taken from my front lawn as well as the token beer bottle and can. Most times when I approach the "Kids", they will run. Other times, a drunken adolescent has tried to challenge me. A threat of phoning the police usually drives them away. I had spoken to a few of my neighbors regarding the "noise" or the beer cans left in our yards. MOST inform me that they choose to close the windows (in the warmer months) and try to ignore it. I truly feel that as adults we have to take responsibility for our neighborhoods and look out for one another. There is a curfew, right? I also feel STRONGLY that parents should know where their kids are and accept responsibility when a neighbor has a complaint or concern. When I was young (and I'm not that old), a neighbor's complaint was accepted before my account of a situation AND I was treated accordingly : ) What happened to the Neighborhood Watch program plans??

They say it takes a Village....
Sorry you have so many problems in your neighborhood with drunken adolescents. And it's supposed to be a dry town.

Dr. Hoch...I like the idea of a Community Center to serve everyone, but I doubt the "cool" kids would take advantage of it. drewp....I am sorry that your peace and property have been infringed upon. I, too, have seen roaming gangs of boys and girls, most look middle school age...they are often down in the wooded area by Hopkins Pond and in the Methodist Cemetery. I often come across beer cans and liquor bottles as I walk around town, and the occasional insulin syringe (I'm told they shoot up vodka....can you imagine) and my personal favorite, used condoms....at least they are practicing safe sex (note: sarcasm). I don't know what the answer is, I believe most parents are paying attention to their teenagers friends and activities, but sadly there will always be those who don't.

The kids in Haddonfield are good kids, they're just going to take advantage of too much leniency. That's the nature of being a kid. When I was a kid here I'm pretty sure my friends and I would be doing the same mischief if we thought we could get away with it.
We didn't because almost every neighbor would have called the police, they would have been there ASAP and when we got home we would have been introduced to the principle of foot in the rear end, grounding or a reasonable facsimile thereof.
When I went to HMHS there were things like the Open House or dances at the school. They had decent bands, they played our music and high school kids of all types attended therm. You don't need a lot of money or facilities to do this stuff, it just takes a little imagination and a creative use of what we already have.
A lot of these ideas came from the students themselves. When you use the assets and ideas of the whole community you come up with solutions.
Quickly addressing the 24/7 policy. It was well intentioned but misguided for one simple reason. When kids go out to party, (pay attention to this) they don't think they're going to get caught. If they did they wouldn't do it. It also only targeted a segment of the students. Well intention but misguided and that's precisely why the town is paying for it.

Just to clarify...it isn't like the "Wild West" over in my neighborhood. Just an incident of taking or damaging something now and then (but the noise is more often). AND I also agree with Brian Kelly that for the most part, Haddonfield kids are great kids...just being kids. I'd be the pot calling the kettle black if I claimed to be an angel in my youth.

Is this post about your parental perfection and Bancroft or is it about Street Signs?

Actually it is about accountability. The kids who steal signs (who I am sure are a minority) know that no one will hold them accountable. If they are caught, their parents will lawyer up and not recognize that the kid needs to be accountable. This costs us all money - and this is an unnecessary cost to the town and to the Police Department. The current financial crisis in our town's is also about accountability and in that context, Bancroft's rejection occurred because of the deficit and tax situation in the town and the feeling that the voters were not being told the whole story (since the plan as put forward was vague and incomplete). And the next Commissioners' election will surely be about accountability.

A week or so ago, I remember seeing a stop sign that was pulled down, not off of the pole, but the pole bent, rendering the sign being not clearly visible. I have concerns that the traffic control signs could be tampered with next....could cause major problems! And I agree....hold the parents accountable if a kid is caught and charged.

Comment to Pro-Haddonfield - I guess we are living in Lake Wobegon where ALL the children are above average.
I guess the Chess Team must be responsible for the sign vandalism - I can hear them now - Rook, Pawn, Bishop, Stop Sign.

Lighten up. Kids will always be doing dumb things, always have and always will. I'm not justifying any of the nonsense including stealing street signs or leaving trash around town but let's not criticize all children/teenagers and parents from the actions of smaller percentage. Most, if not all, parents would certainly punish their children if caught breaking the law.

As for WorksinHaddonfield stating "The kids of Haddonfield are on that trip of entitlement, worse than some towns. Most are spoiled, thoughtless and selfish, the Me generation" . That is just a stereotype. Granted most stereotypes hold a lot of truth but that's just ignorant to state. The character and education of the "kids of Haddonfield" is statistically proven to be on par or superior to most surrounding areas (and nationally) by their academic and athletic achievements. There are thoughtless and selfish people in every town, social class and professional environments. As you said it's not fair to lump everyone together.

Three comments to Pro-Haddonfield.
The nature of average is that the majority of the children in town CANNOT be above the average. Half of them will be below average for the town. If you need to feel better by comparing the kids to some other town, I guess that is ok but half of the kids in this town are below the average for the town. The other half is above the average., Hence the quote fromn Lake Woebegon which perhaps you did not understand. The reference to the Chess Team was a joke.
In terms of your statement that if your child needs representative, you would get it for him or her. I would hope that if your child defecated in someone's piano, you would get a psychiatrist or therapist for them BEFORE you got a lawyer. The Maple Avenue event was beyond sign vandalism and displayed a complete contempt for others. I can't even begin to understand it based on my own parenting experience.

1. No I understand. You do not. Haddonfield Kids rate above average county wide....statewide was my point. I know what average means. I was an above average student. 2. Never know when you are joking because you always come across as angry. 3. The defecation is nothing more than urban legend. Didn't happen. That said, what did happen there is awful. Wonder if the owner's daughter apologized for providing access to the house. 4. Again, we all know that your parenting experience was that of perfection. Your kids did not wrong, never once used bad judgement. That is great, really. Glad to hear it.....again.

I guess I don't understand why you are so competitive. Who cares how the children in Haddonfield compare with those of surrounding towns? Clearly there are children in Camden City without the parental support and schooling that the children in Haddonfield get. Those children have all the potential of the children in Haddonfield but they don't have the opportunities that children here do. We all know this. Why are you so insecure that you have to compete like this?
I did not think my Chess Team joke came across as angry - perhaps not really funny - but trying to show that we have a stereotype of who does the vandalism and the Chess Team does not fit that stereotype. You seem very angry - perhaps you need to get a life beyond being a Haddonfield parent and organizer of sports fields so that you will be more satisfied and not need to constantly compare yourself and your town to others.

Organizer of sports fields...hmmm...I'll have to add that to my resume. Until now I had Volunteer. For the record Susan, this isn't a competition. I and others feel it necessary to call you out on your nonsense. Who cares...? You sit here and rip the kids and parents of this town and don't expect a response? Good luck.

Sue, Adam Lanza wasn't an athlete. He was apparently in the tech and camera clubs and was considered a smart young man having attended college at age 16. We all know how it ended though.

Are you really going to continue to paint with such broad strokes because of a few? Any evidence to back up your claims on who the perps are? That be like us saying all Docs in your specialty are hacks. I am sure some are but some aren't - hopefully you are not.

If Haddonfield is only average, then how bad can all of those other schools be that can't hang with us on the averages?

Was masturbating into stuffed animals part of the urban legend? Look, there are some outstanding kids/teenagers in town, most who are mid-range average in IQ and behavior and some.....how do I say this and be PC?.....problem kids. I know this because I talk to parents who don't have their heads in the sand, the police, and have experienced some situations first hand. Acknowledging the truth may tarnish Haddonfield's image, but if you don't acknowledge a problem, you can't fix it. To paint every kid with a broad brush is wrong....to ignore the facts is worse,

Exactly my point. Stop painting broad strokes and acting as if our children are in crisis. This all comes off as so dramatic. Stuffed animals? Never read that one or saw it in the police report. Suspect also urban legend.

Barack Hussein Obama was in the Chum Gang ! Bill Clinton had an extramarital affair in office and lied about it. These are people who the majority of society seems to admire. There are always problem kids and not all problem kids come from bad parented households. Stop with the BS and go find the perps who detroyed the signs. It wasn't my kids!

I frankly don't see how Presidential affairs relate to sign vandalism but if you are going to bring up such things, I would think of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, Franklin Roosevelt and Lucy, Dwight Eisenhower and his driver (can't think of her name right now). Probably others as well but I don't know if Benjamin Harrison had an affair or not.
I would certainly go to the police if I knew anything about the sign vandals and I would hope that other kids who know who did this would tell their parents and /or the police rather than being afraid of being "snitches". Does anyone know if this issue is being discussed at the high school? And speaking of crime at the High School, did they ever find out who took the $2,200 from the admissions office?

No, I'm not speaking of the Maple Avenue incident but I am speaking from experience. I'm only describing what I've seen around the town. The kids I encounter are rude, inconsiderate and have a attitude about them. Sorry if you just don't see it or want to accept it.

You must be hanging with the wrong crowd. I've always said there are bad eggs. I'm realistic but first hand know the overwhelming majority of the kids here are great. That I accept.

"Worksin Haddonfield" sound like a class act. You are obviously biased against these children. Statistics and achievements of the students in Haddonfield prove that they are above average and generally quality people on their way to becoming excellent contributing members of society...who will no doubtingly be above talking trash on children from other towns, where they don't reside, and don't actually know. Especially re-hashing one awful occurrence from a decade ago. What percentage of children have gone on to college and won various state titles since then? Check on that and re-evaluate your criticism. Thank you sir. Luckily you don't "Livesin Haddonfield"

Amen.

Rather than disparaging WorksinHaddonfield, maybe you should stop and think. This is the impression that someone who does not live in Haddonfield but works in our town has of our students. While it is a gross generalization, it must spring from experiences that WordsinHaddonfield had. This is what one person who has encountered our young people has seen. WorksinHaddonfield doesn't represent ALL the people from out of our town but she or he represents an opinion and it is an opinion that we should consider thoughtfully. Is this the way we want people who come into our town to see us? That's what I would ask. And how can we improve the way we and our young people interact with those who are not from our town?
Just saying that our kids are the best doesn't make it so.
And to Reed Rothchild who claims our children are above average, I would ask - as compared to whom? Half of the Haddonfield children are below average for the town of Haddonfield. Obviously our kids score high and go more to college than children from Camden City. To those who are given much, much is expected.

Such negativity. Here's the response you've been hitting "refresh" every 5 minutes for. Now go take a look in the mirror and try not to feel sorry for yourselves. Although I'm guilty for posting (not spamming, I guess I'll need my Doctorate for that) on here as well, this whole debate ridiculous. It's an unfortunate reflection of a town and it's youth held by a small and ignorant minority of people like yourselves. It's entertaining to read to an extent but offensive when "gross" generalizations are made, especially coming from a bogus pedestal of perfection that some preach from. Luckily most people don't harbor such hostility and only somebody killing time at work like myself acknowledges such ignorance.