EDITORIAL - Age as weapon of hooliganism

The use of children for less-than-innocent purposes is an aspect of urban living that has not received the serious attention it deserves. And while measures have been adopted by both the government and the private sector to address the problem, these have not been truly effective.

 We continue to see infants and toddlers being laid out on sidewalks in order to appeal to the sensitivities of passersby, whose most natural reaction would predicably be to dig into their pockets for coins as alms.

 But it is very difficult to eke out a living in this manner. Most people, now wise to the ways of the world, increasingly steel their feelings and look away, finding it better to grapple with their consciences than put up with the realization that they have been had.

 Whoever are behind the racket of using children have, for their part, made their own adjustments, evolving methods that are now less passive but more direct and aggressive. And to make this shift in strategy work, an older cast of characters have been recruited.

 Here is one such strategy that has increasingly alarmed the public, especially those who have already fallen victim, or witnesses who saw the operation carried out, with the exception, of course, of the authorities concerned:

 There is a marauding band of very young children of both sexes, no more than probably 10 years of age, that has made the area around Fuente Osmeña and its immediate environs its sphere of operations.

 An actual witness from this newspaper saw one such group of about six to seven children ganging up on one of two Asian tourists walking along Juana Osmeña, probably on their way to one of the many small hotels and pension houses in the area.

 Pretending to ask for alms, the kids swarmed around the bewildered tourist, succeeding in making him stop. Then they immobilized him by grabbing at his arms. One of the boys then reached into his right back pocket and took out what was inside.

 By this time, onlookers began shouting and the kids scampered away, perhaps to look for other victims. These kids know they are too young to be manhandled or incarcerated, so they are emboldened to carry out their racket with impunity. But must they? Authorities, wake up.