Polish Youth - are they violent?

Of course I don't want to sterotype, but I noticed a lot of Young males walking around Warsaw with this hilarious macho air, their arms spread apart and everything as if they were super buff (they are often pathetically skinny.) A lot of young males here just look agressive too but it always looks like they are trying a bit too hard. Are many of these guys hooligans? Sometimes they taunt me (I'm black as my avatar shows) and I know that one day I'm gonna snap, I'm mostly afraid of getting in trouble with the police, and/or turning some stupid gang of hooligans against me, and the problem with losers like that is that they usually need weapons so I definitely don't want to get stabbed. Another thing is that almost every day I notice blood on the street, though I can't tell if its young people fighting, or drunk old bums.

Experiences anyone? What do you Poles have to say about that, and what is like like on school playgrounds in Poland?

I've been 'bounced' a lot more in Poland than anywhere else

I've experienced sth like this, but this is anywhere you go where kids can drink. I've also experienced what I thought was harassment. I was being heckled at by a few youths who were obviously quite buzzed and I assumed they were talking shite, but it turns out they were only shouting about us not being drunk enough and to go to the nearest pub. It was all a misunderstanding.

I've also discovered that 15yr olds and alcohol don't mix well. I had about 8 kids harassing me when I was watching the sea by myself in Chlopy. I was minding my own and they all walked past and kicked sand on me calling me Kurwa and all that good stuff. I could've easily taken a few of them, but it was just easier to walk away and chuckle. Sometimes it's good to zip it because when 1 fights, theyu all fight. There is no 1 on 1 from what I've experienced.

I've seen a few drunkards catch a beating late after the pubs close. I hear this happens frequently to them, but not sure if it's entirely true.

Poland is not as violent as you think. Where in PL were you?

I always feel safe enough here. There is potential for an escalation of tension into violence but it's rare. Maybe bcoz I live in Gliwice which is an academic and fairly cultural town. Even the young football fans like to cheer loudly but not riot.

I have to say from a female point of view I've always felt very very safe, I think the Police and security presence helps...only visited Poland 3 times but didn't see one fight or even a scuffle for that matter, maybe I was just lucky.

I think they're just loud, but when you come from a place that breeds violence, everything else doesn't phase you much. WHere are you from masks?

I have seen teenagers in my local village give somebody a kicking once or twice , all fuelled by alchohol , but in general i would say that Polish people behave much better after drinking , than say British people.....

Or Americans :)

I'm from New York, which is no picninc either, but I feel like I know how to carry myself and deal with crap without it escalating too much. Now I'm in Warsaw, and I feel more threatened, whenever I walk around with my girlfriend everybody stares which I've come to expect now, but every now and then there will be a small pack of adolescent or 20-somethings staring in a menacing, dissaproving manner. It makes me really not want to go to clubs or bars here. I was in Zamosc last week-end, my girlfriend and I took a bike ride and a lot of the young people were just ********.

One dude on the beach starting calling my girlfriend honey right in front of me, and then once we got to the forest we saw a group of young guys. As soon as they saw us they were like "YO!" "NIGGA!" "YO MUTHAFUCKA!!" "HAHAH!!" It Would have been a classic moment if I actually were the gangsta thug-type, and I pulled out a gun and shot them.

I guess Warsaw is alright, I mostly hang around the Centrum where I live, although i hear that there are a lot of Hooligans in most of the big cities, and that they are pretty racist.

Think about where you are. It's like going back to the 60's in the US all over again. You just have to try and ignore them....and yes, people have tried to pick up my gf while I was with her...and I'm white :)

I dont think it is, they are not ignorant they just dont seem to mix, which isn't actually a crime. Look at Zimbabwe blacks kill whites simply because they don't want them there....It's not just a white thang ya know! And it's a bit rude to say Polish people are like redneck Americans living about 50 years ago.

Don't get me wrong Shell, I don't think all Polish people think this way. There are always going to be people that will mock and harass just because they're different. IMO it's not only a "just don't mix" thing, I think it's a combination of the two. But this is just my opinion anyhoo. I'm not a know it all, but I do make observations and this is just what I see.

onywye is more Doric Scots but I like the anyhoo

A lot of Poles are naturally very rude by Anglo Saxon standards. What annoys me is having people stare me down on the tram / bus. Nodding and smiling doesn't do anything, even blowing them a kiss. It's just something they've been brought up with I guess.

Sorry to hear you're having trouble with the teens. A lot of them, boys and girls, have inherited unhealthy attitudes from their parents - I've seen 10 year old boys strutting round the streets in tracksuits, spitting and swearing and even younger girls wandering the streets dressed like hookers.

It's not easy but try to ignore them. Show them there's better things to aspire to than drunken wife beating and benefit fraud.

If you dont like then move! Simple as, just because Polish people dont particularly want a racially mixed country isn't a bad thing, it's their choice... Maybe they look at other Western countries and feel that they don't want the same happening in their country, I dont hear about bombs going off on trains and buses in Poland nor do I hear about minorities complaining about the local butchers shop selling pork...nor do I hear about floods of asylum seekers heading to Poland demanding this and that!

Absolutely. But the point of taking huge numbers of immigrants is that you have someone else to blame for the sorry state of your country. The Polish have to take responsibility for it themselves ;)

Ah, Shelley, it's good to see that you have woken up from your medication. You deny that Poles seem rude sometimes? That was the topic of my post, after all. Oh you forgot to mention the rivers of blood by the way.

The problem is to a large extent, ignorance. There is ignorance in every country of course, but at least British citizens have grown up alongside other races and it's "no big find" to see someone a bit different. The Poles, however only have the egregious black stereotypes from Hollywood and MTV to refer to so every black man is a rapper or a boxer.

Anyway, it's time for your next session of meds and I don't want to tire you out, dragging your finger across the screen as you do.

Haha Shelly why get so defensive, Poles are generally rude, its a fact for those who are able to compare to other countries. I'm from New York, I lived 10 years in Switzerland, I've travelled around, but only heere do people strike me as rude. But that's mostly street manners. Anytime I was invited into someone's home in Poland, they were more accomodating then anywherre else I've been on earth.

And why tell people to leave if they don't like it? What are you trying to become another Stalin? Complaining is a god-given right, a great and fun thing to do. And the fact that Poles don't want to mix racially is not a crime, but it's unfortunate as it can lead to crimes, like hate-crimes. And let me tell you that it's not in your interest to think that way, because it contributes to the stereotype that Poland is some primitive backwater full of uneducated drunks. Is that the kind of international reputation patriotic Poles should encourage? I think not.

some are some aren't

And of course Poles never travel. So they can't possibly know what life is like beyond their borders, can they ?

Poles do not bother you if you do not bother them.

well the thing is and I'm being serious here sometimes we just don't smile. People have told me they hated me when they first met me because i don't respond to smiles or nods I just look at people with a blank expression which apparently looks like a glare...

Poles are real men.They do not need weapons.You think of carrying knife to cope up with them because otherwise you are lost.


They do not have to try.They look like that naturally.You sh1t your pants when you look at them.


If you are white,no problem at all.They will invite you to drink with them.

What's a real man Southern? And anyways when it comes to b@stards like polish hooligans, don't they only gang up on people? How manly is that? And What do you mean they do not need weapons? google polish hooligans/skin heads, apparently they even carry axes, middle-ages style! So your oracular pronouncements: "Poles are real men.They do not need weapons..." is just random and funny.

And well yeah, some are naturally tough, I'm from New York so I've seen a good deal of hard-knock hard-@sses, and there are some like that here too, but a lot of them look funny, they are super skinny, with funny clothes, funny faces and hair styles, but it's mostly the walk, like a peacock you know what I mean? That's what makes them look like they're trying too hard.

"If you are white,no problem at all.They will invite you to drink with them."

Haha well that's not true, Polish hooligans fight among themselves for example, and they attack various football fans. And then they decide to attack minorities.

I've been in Poland for 6 months and last week I was approached by 4 youths who started shouting at me in an aggressive manner. I tried to ignore them and kept walking. Another 2 youths then joined the group when one member (the smallest one), pulled out a knife from his pocket. Luckily I was alert (and sober) enough to run like a cheetah! So sorry if I don't agree with you about real Polish men not needing weapons.

I'm not so naive to think that this kind of behaviour is subject only to Poland. I'm from England for one. (The media there make a living reporting violent crime!)

Saying that, I do feel more of a general antagonism on the streets of Poland. Until this recent incident I thought that these youths just liked to look like 'hard men' but generally not get involved. Now I'm not too sure. In Poland I look over my shoulder more than I did in the UK but maybe that's because I feel more alien here and I haven't acclimatised fully.

Have such intimidating youths always been so visible in Poland or is it an increasing trend?

lol...

You think so? Maybe that's a bit extreme bit I think you could have a point there. The vast majority of low income Poles may not have been abroad further than the Czech republic or Slowakja.


That really is the fast route to A&E in the UK.


Well there is the daily macho posturing on the streetbut you can pick subtler forms up at work. My wife has recently had problems with a male workmate who continually grabbed her and made fun of her in front of other staff. Of course he'll never actually go up to a superior and do that to their face but he'll pick on anyone who tries to cut him a break. If you treat people with respect in this country, 70% of the time it'll be seen as weakness and they'll try to walk all over you.

And what lesson can we learn from this?

You will see some anti-social elements here and there, Poland consists of a large variety of characters, many drunkyards and disappointed ones. But the police takes control, preventing more and more bums to gather and drink denaturat in the open field.

In my opinion small cities and country-yard areas may be ocasionally more dangerous - like fridays when all the peasants get drunk in the local taverns. In those areas I would advice to bahave very decent and reversive.

You could be right there. Everyone knows each other and they might have scores o settle on Friday night... Plus some of those farmers are big guys...