Flanders bullies its youths

The Belgian police wants to deploy its "Very Irritating Police" task force against loitering and riotous youths on beaches in Flanders this summer. The measure is also to include the boring seaside resort of Nieuwpoort, the daily De Morgen comments ironically: "The biggest risk you run in the Nieuwpoort area is dying of boredom. In Nieuwpoort you can get a warning for walking around with a can of beer in your hand after ten pm. How far do things need to be taken? To the point where no one goes out at all? To the point where the very existence of youths is denied? ... It's probably a sign of the times. Drinking a beer on the beach with a few friends used to be called being young. Today you're immediately labelled a troublesome, loitering juvenile who must be cracked down on by a 'very irritating' policeman. There are parts of Flanders whose sole ambition is to become an old people's home until at some point loitering seniors have the place all to themselves."

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