Kids can do some crazy things growing up. Sometimes those things are wacky or cute, and sometimes those things cause concern or demand attention. This is one of the latter situations.

Teen “flash mobs” have been springing up more and more around the nation. No, these aren’t those entertaining sudden outpourings of people dancing or all freezing in place for a few minutes; these are teenagers stealing things as fast as they can.

A teenage flash mob is a large group of youths who come together at a pre-determined times to enter a store as a swarm. This swarm completely overwhelms employees or security personnel and steals as many items as possible in a very short period of time. The swarm then scatters from the store with the newly acquired loot.

Video of the theft seems to do little to deter these kids from committing crime. On the contrary, it appears as if the prospect of being captured is part of the rush. That, or the kids are so dumb they don’t realize that stealing thousands of dollars in merchandise and assaulting folks is a crime.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that bit — some of these incidents have turned violent. Whether the violent actions are purely intentional or just responses to panicking patrons is unclear. But these kids are still engaging in criminal activity. People can’t simply nod their heads and say “kids will be kids.”

Twitter, Facebook or other social media outlets appear to be the means by which these swarms communicate. The message goes out in some form, and other little hoodlums jump on the bandwagon.

What can be done about these events? Not much. The kids involved in these mobs are either on their way to lives of crime, or are trying to be accepted as part of a group. Yes, this is a terrible way to rebel. The question becomes this: who is to blame?

No matter where your beliefs fall, the fault is with both sides. And not only is it both sides, it falls on society as a whole.

There are good kids out there not participating in activities like this. It would be unfair to judge all kids by the actions of a few bad apples. Nevertheless, the behavior of these delinquents must be dealt with.

Allowing government officials more control over the Internet being used as the medium for these communications is certainly not the answer. Enough of that sort of ridiculous legislation is already floating around.

Our schools are already teaching kids not to steal. And I hope parents aren’t so negligent that they skip over that particular lesson.

Attempting to stifle news coverage, or banning content creators from selling their wares tends to infringe on their constitutional rights.

Where does that leave us? Well, nowhere really. We’re still right where we started. There is no easy answer to this problem.

These kinds of thefts have been happening for a while. But they are occurring more frequently this year and have recently received more coverage. The only thing we can do is to provide positive examples and try to steer some of these kids away from this negative lifestyle. One can hope the ones who cannot be convinced of reform’s merits will see their friends stop commiting crimes and follow suit.

For the most part, the over-18 crowd isn’t commiting these crimes. Some news sources are lumping other crimes in with these events because they are agenda-driven, sensationalistic piles of worthless drivel. But I digress.

Parents, older siblings, teachers and other role models need to take more time to ensure that the kids they meet and the kids that view or mimic their actions are not being led astray.

This notion is nothing new. Kids have always and will always look to those older than them for guidance. Right now, a lot of kids are seeing criminal activity as a choice they should make. That just doesn’t fly with me.

Maybe I want to live in a better world, and my suggestion of outreach is really just wishful thinking. But isn’t it worth the effort to try and get these kids on a good path during their more impressionable years, rather than waiting to see if they work it all out and make something of themselves when they reach adulthood?

Is it just easier to watch it all from afar and hope they learn from their mistakes so they will become model citizens?

That would just be more wishful thinking. All we can do is keep hoping and provide positive examples.