Hellbilly5000
New member
That was my point exactly Its parents not paying attention to there kids and letting sponge bob raise them
Small town violence
- Thread starter rickdavis81
- Start date
That was my point exactly Its parents not paying attention to there kids and letting sponge bob raise them
The same idea can be applied with sending your kids to school or even bringing them along when you go shopping. They're going to run into bad things and bad people.. and that's fine, if you're a good parent.
I was brought up watching those crime movies and even playing Grand Theft Auto; if you have sensible parents that teach you right from wrong, it's not a problem at all.
I am completely unbiased on this subject, and I can tell you that the overall content of media is NOT the problem. Having your face glued to a screen is.
Hellbilly5000
New member
True but if the kid plays grand theft auto and the parent does not tell them that it is wrong to do that in real life Its still an issue of bad parents and parents letting a plastic box raise there kids
I grew up in a small town of perhaps 9,000, then moved to the country when I was in high school. The small town is even smaller now because the main industry closed up shop (railroad shops for the Virginian, then the N&W railroad) and moved to another town (Roanoke). In the country I was considered to be from the city and to be frank, the small town was much more city-like than living in the suburbs. And people had all the big city complaints about the traffic and parking. If nothing else, those complaints have evaporated. Many of the local business moved to the mall outside of town and there's still no Wal-Mart, or wasn't the last time I was there. Other small towns are even worse off but there doesn't seem to be much difference in the way of crime. But some things have changed.
One is, I think people are less tolerant now. That is particularly ironic because one thinks of the 1950s as being very conformist. A rebel was someone who had a D.A. haircut and wore his shirt-tail out. If he was really bad, he had a motorbike, and we had our share of those. Yet it was also a time when people would come to your door asking for handouts, showing you dog eared cards that said they couldn't speak. It was a time when small towns had characters who shuffled around collecting empty soda bottles (we said "pop" bottles), dressed strangely and were incredibly dirty. And there were old timers who were obviously poor and would talk about delivering mail on horseback. In fact, I guess you could say we lived in a working section of town. There was a sporting goods store that seemed to have more boats than anything. These days they have way more guns than they did then. I don't recall them ever displaying handguns when I lived there.
There was a police department, which occupied half of the building shared with the fire department. On warm summer days they opened the garage door and you could see their gun cabinet. The policemen were about like Barney Fife and had swivel holsters. I suspect the policemen are a little different these days with Prussian haircuts and an attitude. But perhaps I'm being unfair.
It wasn't much different in the country, except everyone seemed to own guns, mostly long guns. No one I knew had a revolver and only one person had a .22 automatic. I got to fire it and I don't even know what kind it was. Hunting was popular but because they would shoot anything that moved, if it would hold still long enough, there was no hunting locally. A few people owned rather ancient guns, though I never saw a muzzleloader in the country, though I saw lots and lots in the "city," oddly enough. The place I moved had been in my stepmother's (my mother having died) family for over a hundred years and it was a log house (not a cabin, a house). They had a Winchester single-shot in, I think, .32-40, or some such old cartridge. It weighted what seemed like 15 pounds but I never saw anyone shoot it.
I always wondered whatever happened to that old rifle.
One is, I think people are less tolerant now. That is particularly ironic because one thinks of the 1950s as being very conformist. A rebel was someone who had a D.A. haircut and wore his shirt-tail out. If he was really bad, he had a motorbike, and we had our share of those. Yet it was also a time when people would come to your door asking for handouts, showing you dog eared cards that said they couldn't speak. It was a time when small towns had characters who shuffled around collecting empty soda bottles (we said "pop" bottles), dressed strangely and were incredibly dirty. And there were old timers who were obviously poor and would talk about delivering mail on horseback. In fact, I guess you could say we lived in a working section of town. There was a sporting goods store that seemed to have more boats than anything. These days they have way more guns than they did then. I don't recall them ever displaying handguns when I lived there.
There was a police department, which occupied half of the building shared with the fire department. On warm summer days they opened the garage door and you could see their gun cabinet. The policemen were about like Barney Fife and had swivel holsters. I suspect the policemen are a little different these days with Prussian haircuts and an attitude. But perhaps I'm being unfair.
It wasn't much different in the country, except everyone seemed to own guns, mostly long guns. No one I knew had a revolver and only one person had a .22 automatic. I got to fire it and I don't even know what kind it was. Hunting was popular but because they would shoot anything that moved, if it would hold still long enough, there was no hunting locally. A few people owned rather ancient guns, though I never saw a muzzleloader in the country, though I saw lots and lots in the "city," oddly enough. The place I moved had been in my stepmother's (my mother having died) family for over a hundred years and it was a log house (not a cabin, a house). They had a Winchester single-shot in, I think, .32-40, or some such old cartridge. It weighted what seemed like 15 pounds but I never saw anyone shoot it.
I always wondered whatever happened to that old rifle.
Double Naught Spy
New member
The perception of small towns as having less crime is just that, a perception. You don't hear about it as much from small towns, historically, because small towns tended to not have news organizations and were often somewhat isolated. That isn't the case these days. We know a lot more about what happens in small towns because they are wired with the rest of the world.
The other aspect is that many small towns don't have law enforcement. Crimes happen without being reported.
I will say this based on a county social worker's insights here. Domestic violence certainly is an issue in small towns, maybe even higher than in large towns. It seems domestic abusers, like meth heads and their labs, feel security in small towns, security to not be bothered for their illegal acts.
The other aspect is that many small towns don't have law enforcement. Crimes happen without being reported.
I will say this based on a county social worker's insights here. Domestic violence certainly is an issue in small towns, maybe even higher than in large towns. It seems domestic abusers, like meth heads and their labs, feel security in small towns, security to not be bothered for their illegal acts.
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
Part of the problem of the perception of small town violence is the perception of what constitutes a small town.
6, 7, 9 thousand people is NOT a small town. It is a small CITY, which yes, is completely different than a small town.
The town I grew up in had about 600 people, maybe 2500 people in the entire school district (which is probably 10 square miles), 400 kids in the ENTIRE school, K-12.
Truly small TOWNS generally have much lower levels of violence and crime in general. Sometimes, it may not show up statistically because one guy who happens to cause trouble every weekend when he gets drunk can skew the statistics of the entire area but the people who live there know the truth.
6, 7, 9 thousand people is NOT a small town. It is a small CITY, which yes, is completely different than a small town.
The town I grew up in had about 600 people, maybe 2500 people in the entire school district (which is probably 10 square miles), 400 kids in the ENTIRE school, K-12.
Truly small TOWNS generally have much lower levels of violence and crime in general. Sometimes, it may not show up statistically because one guy who happens to cause trouble every weekend when he gets drunk can skew the statistics of the entire area but the people who live there know the truth.
Hellbilly5000
New member
pete my h/s graduation class larger then your city
for the record I think anything above 2500 or so people no longer constitutes a town its a city
less then 500 is a village
less then 150 is a dot on the map if your lucky
Brian Pfleuger
Moderator Emeritus
Holy smokes!
I think that part of the reason the crime rate tends to be lower in small towns is because you really can't help but know just about everybody. I mean, I knew absolutely every person in my class on a personal level. I knew most of the next class down and a fair number of the kids two years behind me. My mother, who runs the bus garage, can tell you the names of the parents of darn near every kid in our ENTIRE school, K-12.
It's hard to get away with much in such a place.
The best answer I can find to defines towns, cities and villages has nothing to do with population (I got this from several googled sourced not worth citing, such as yahoo answers):
A city has a Cathedral
A town has a Church and a Communal Hall
A village or hamlet is a group of houses and a Church
This may not be totally relevant to American settlement hierarchy, especially considering the plethora of denomination for which we have churches... but it is interesting.
I grew up in a town called Maple Valley, WA which incorporated (became a 'city') when I was 16, with a population of approximately 15,000 people. I think village is appropriate for places without government services (police, fire, etc) and rely on the county for such. Towns have their own services, are generally less than 25,000 people (a 'small town' is <10,000) and do not have a democratically elected City Council. Cities have said elected government, services independent from county services... particularly their own jail.
A city has a Cathedral
A town has a Church and a Communal Hall
A village or hamlet is a group of houses and a Church
This may not be totally relevant to American settlement hierarchy, especially considering the plethora of denomination for which we have churches... but it is interesting.
I grew up in a town called Maple Valley, WA which incorporated (became a 'city') when I was 16, with a population of approximately 15,000 people. I think village is appropriate for places without government services (police, fire, etc) and rely on the county for such. Towns have their own services, are generally less than 25,000 people (a 'small town' is <10,000) and do not have a democratically elected City Council. Cities have said elected government, services independent from county services... particularly their own jail.
Bismarck357
New member
I too live in a small town,only about 3,500 people. And I don't want to make light of your situation,but let me tell you how it is here. We don't have any crime. In fact after 10pm we don't even have police on duty. The last time we had a major crime here was 12yrs ago,and that was some little punk tryin' to steal a car. Most of the men in my town (myself included) are military veterans,or just plain folks who believe in solvin' their own problems rather then bother the sheriff. I dare say we may be the most heavily armed small town in Oregon. There are several larger cities near by,and they do have their fair share of crime;but the scum that walks those streets know to stay away from here.If you and the good people of your town want the bad elements out of your town arm yourselves,get organized and work with the local police to get rid of that which plags you. Who knows,maybe I'm wrong...
If you want to split hairs, in England a village has a church and a hamlet doesn't, unless the hamlet was a village depopulated.
But if you want to get the bad element out of town, you don't need to be heavily armed but you do need to be organized and you clearly need to cooperate with the sheriff's department. I assume here that the place is too small for a police department. But remember, you're also giving someone else your problems, however you care to define your problems.
Who gets to decide who the bad element is? You know, they say that a democracy is where you can vote to have someone put to death.
But if you want to get the bad element out of town, you don't need to be heavily armed but you do need to be organized and you clearly need to cooperate with the sheriff's department. I assume here that the place is too small for a police department. But remember, you're also giving someone else your problems, however you care to define your problems.
Who gets to decide who the bad element is? You know, they say that a democracy is where you can vote to have someone put to death.
It is not an issue of small town or big town. It is evil, and where it is allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged it will flourish. I have family in the town in southern Missouri where those two girls were murdered. I know that it seems like it can not happen in a small town... But it does.
Up in Northern MO. is a little different with KC, and St.L being what they are... it is easy to become a cynic.
We all just need to remain vigilant and keep the evil in our world in check...
After all the famous saying goes... All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.
Never could a saying be more pertinent today than ever before.
Up in Northern MO. is a little different with KC, and St.L being what they are... it is easy to become a cynic.
We all just need to remain vigilant and keep the evil in our world in check...
After all the famous saying goes... All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.
Never could a saying be more pertinent today than ever before.