I know that people have complained about kids' behaviour on our ferries before and doubtless this post, like those before it, will have little if any effect. And doubtless some defensive parents will give me some flak. But it has to be said, some kids are making certain ferry journeys unbearable. One such is the 7am ferry to Aberdeen, and I know both adults and youngsters who no longer use this ferry service because they can't stomach the behaviour of the (predominately) ESF kids who, despite the presence of some parents, teachers and minders, are out of control, running and shrieking around the boat. Worst of all, some local kids are singled out for intimidation by bullying, arrogant ESF kids whose behaviour at times times borders on racist. It's a fact, unfortunately.

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“We can confirm that the ferry has sunk."

Dear Ferryman

Your post was very good and I am sorry that some people are avoiding the 7am ferry because of the brattish kids.

I am the mother of 2 - a 15 year old and an 8 year old and I sincerely hope it's not them you are referring to but am quite prepared for it to be and will take appropriate measure if it is.

I am not trying to cop out but reckon that naming and shaming would be a very effective way for parents to deal with their kids.

Another way would be to call the schools - the kids on the ferry from international schools are:
WIS 2819 1962 (speak to Mrs Jane Foxcroft),
Kennedy School 2855 0711 (speak to Mr Paul Hay)
Bradbury (don't have the numbers)
French International (no numbers either) and
Kellett School (no numbers either).

the kids will then get hauled over the coals by school, and this might have some effect.

If you don't know the names of the children, then describe their school uniforms - they are all pretty distinctive.

No one wants the kind of behaviour you talk about anywhere near them, let's work to nip it in the bud.

The noise alot of adults make annoys me more than children. Anyone have their work numbers I'd like to dob them in.

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You don't want to see my Avatar

describe them and I'll get the numbers you require

WTF, it's children, dragged out of bed at 6am, force fed toast and chucked on a ferry. What do you want? Can you remember through the haze your journey to school when you were 5/6? How exciting was that for you? Running around seemed to be a big part of it for me, what did you do? So, put your ipod on, listen to Babies by Pulp and STFU. Miserable git.

At 5/6 I was lucky - just had a short walk to school. But I recall nightmare stories at secondary school from those who had to take a bus - kids being bullied, beaten up, spat at, etc. Great fun, eh? I also remember one story where the bus driver stopped and threw the bullies off the bus. Now there's an idea!

BTW, apparently ( I wasn't on it) the Aberdeen ferry was more tranquil today. Some thanks go to Dragon, perhaps?

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“We can confirm that the ferry has sunk."

Ferryman has evey right to express his opinion if this is what he observes first hand, but be careful of second hand news. My wife catches that ferry every morning and has done for pretty much the last 3 years and sitting downstairs the type of behaviour describe MAY have happened once or twice in that time but its not the norm.

If people have stopped taking that ferry in the morning it may be because its so crowded that seven children are sharing four seats and some adults don't get seats at all.

Believe me my wife and her friends would not put up with shouting and running around and would say something if it was happening. Of course what is probably more worrying is that fact that the ferry is overloaded and carrying more passengers than available seats, its both illegal and dangerous!

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"There are old knights and there are bold knights but there are no old bold knights"

Greenman, it sounds like you are relying on second hand info! In any case, my remarks mainly concern the upper deck, and perhaps the above reasons explain why your wife sits below. Anarchy is the norm above, benignly observed by at least one or two ESF teachers, who are presumably saving their disciplinary expertise for when they actually get to school.

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“We can confirm that the ferry has sunk."

Then send them to bed much earlier than 11pm already! Hope you're not a parent, you sound like you would spoil kids!

Did it happen in Hong Kong on a China Motor Bus?

No, somewhere in Liverpool! After a brief lull in the mayhem on the 7am Aberdeen ferry, normal service has been resumed - no great surprise there though. The main culprits are at the younger end of the spectrum - say between about 7 and 12, some uniformed and some without i.e. no particular school is responsible. The adults who might be expected to exercise some control (mostly minders, but at least the odd parent or teacher) seem happy for a kind of Lord of the Flies situation to carry on. The older kids are generally quite well behaved.

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“We can confirm that the ferry has sunk."

Do they have a conch?

Is one of them called Piggy ?

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6 down, keep 280 metres !

Indeed, some have conches and at least one is called Piggy, and some are called far worse. Depends on one's position in the hierarchy, as it were. As with Golding's fiction, parents would be...erm...surprised.

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“We can confirm that the ferry has sunk."

Ferryman, there is no monopoly on only parents or teachers talking to these kids, if they aren't saying anything and the noise is bothering you, say something yourself. 7-12 year olds usually listen to adults, any adults!

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"There are old knights and there are bold knights but there are no old bold knights"

Tks for the illuminating advice. The thing is, Greenman, that on the way to work of a morning, one doesn't necessarily feel like pulling a bunch of rowdy kids into line, especially if they're not your responsibility and, more to the point, when people who ARE responsible are actually present. Anyway, for now a solution has been found - the 6.20 ferry! I just hope poor Piggy doesn't end up in the Lamma Channel.

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“We can confirm that the ferry has sunk."

Well I guess its all academic now as you are catching the 6.20 ferry but the fact is the people responsible for the kids aren't pulling them into line, so your choices are limited to saying something yourself despite not feeling like it or putting up with the behavior.

I'm not condoning the disruption or the parents/teachers inaction but I'm a person who hopefully looks for solutions, if it was me I'd say something, its very easy to complain after the fact (often justified) but in the end we do have choices.

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"There are old knights and there are bold knights but there are no old bold knights"

...and it's very easy to preach from a distance. Doubtless, were you present the crossing would be serene. Unfortunately, it seems nobody of your moral fibre takes this particular ferry. I prefer not to fight a war on the way to work, so have taken a choice to avoid it.

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“We can confirm that the ferry has sunk."

but this is not about me, its about you. You would rather change ferries than speak up? But you are willing to complain on this forum regardless.

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"There are old knights and there are bold knights but there are no old bold knights"

No, it's not about me or you - it's about the fact that some kids run amok on Lamma ferries, and began in the hope of getting those responsible - teachers, parents, minders - to do something about it. It's not just this ferry (take a look below) but various. Even were I to feel like wading into mobs of kids on one ferry it wouldn't achieve much overall - hence the post.

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“We can confirm that the ferry has sunk."