Curfew, Discipline Proposals Highlight Meeting

People who live in Mobile told disturbing stories Wednesday night of being crime victims, even in their own home and school.
But they also heard what's being done by law enforcement and the judicial system to fight back against juvenile crime.
It was part of the News Five Crime Solutions Task Force town hall meeting.
One of the persons asking questions was Ken Schwartz, a science teacher at Blount High School.
He said there should be a training program for teachers on disciplining students.
Schwartz said, "There needs to be a standardization of what we do A,B,C, and D so we know exactly what our limits (on discipline) are."
Mobile Juvenile Court Judge Edmond Naman responded by saying, "We've got to train our teachers on how to deal with these (disruptive) situations because they're going to arise."
Katelyn Richie, a student at Scarborough Middle School, had a question for the panel.
She asked, "Could we put a stop to the gangs and the fighting and the peer pressure?"
Judge Naman said, "We're hearing rumbles about (a gang problem). I think the chief (Police Chief Phillip Garrett) and I, we're really cooperating and trying to see what's going on. We don't want to over react and say, 'Oh yes, there's a horrible gang problem.' We don't know."
And there were also discussions about responsibility.
Salome Wiley lives in Trinity Gardens.
She said, "The grown people have got to stop having the spirit of fear of their own children. And when they took discipline out of school, and their parents couldn't do nothing with them, then the children took control."
Chief Garrett said, "We've got to be able to give some ability back to the school system to deal with those children in some fashion that doesn't put them into the criminal justice system."
The town hall meeting was held at Junior League Headquarters in Mobile.