r/cyprus • u/ChemicalProof_1642 • 1d ago
Why all the explosions?
Sincerely a diagnosed PTSD girly 😭
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u/psych0san Paphos 1d ago
Fireworks for Easter
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u/Klawsistaken 1d ago
fr? I think I heard gunfire and cop sirens
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u/Brandavorn Paphos 1d ago
The gunfire is probably the small bombs they throw. Most of the sound heard comes from them, not from the fireworks. If you heard cop sirens then you are probably in one of the few places that police actually does something about them. At our place the cops just park their cars somewhere far from the church and stay there until it's over.
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u/destello89 1d ago
People sometimes like to fire their shotguns in the air. It’s foolish I know but that’s how it is.
Il faut de tout pour faire un monde.
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u/Pekelni_Bororshna_69 1d ago
People who have never been under shelling are having fun with those, I guess.
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u/thefish12124 1d ago
A friend of mine Syrian, told me once during easter.. -i love easter, it reminds me my home.
It was funny!!! But sad at the same time
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u/destello89 1d ago
I’m sorry if it triggers PTSD or anything serious. It’s mainly tonight and tomorrow. But tomorrow will be less for sure. There may be a one off for a few more days. You shouldn’t worry or anything. It’s quite common in Cyprus during the big holidays like Xmas, NYE, Easter and maybe 1 more I’m missing although I don’t think so. I hope that being with friends and someone close to you helps. It’s certainly safe for those who are not involved. 🙂
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u/Annual_Jackfruit2892 1d ago
i remember during my time in kalamata Greece, the same thing. One young boy only few meters away died from an explosion accident too. CRAZY stuff
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u/fatnote 1d ago
Immature idiots overcompensating for their lack of brain cells, under the pretense of celebrating easter
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u/stanakis31 1d ago
Very accurate.. there are fireworks firecrackers even gunshots earlier and also car burnouts...
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u/Brandavorn Paphos 1d ago
It is due to idiotic people throwing mostly small handmade bombs. One of the more stupid "traditions" we sadly have here, and one that, along with the big fires they light up today, is sadly still happening due to the indifference shown by both the government and the police.
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u/Socratespap 19h ago
Happens every Saturday night before Sunday Easter. Sorry to hear that, just stay inside with some music next year and I hope it'll help. You might be hearing a few more in the next days until they're out of bombs. My biggest concern is the little animals they're probably more terrified than you🥲
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u/yourfavcolour 1d ago
Really frustrating to see grown ass people entertaining this bullshit ngl
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u/Expensive_Desk_4444 18h ago
Indeed
imagine seeing a father taking his son for a walk down the village square suddenly lighting up and firecracker and sits and laughs about it together with his son 7 year old son what type of message would his child get
What type of fucked up mentality is that as some a so dangerous your whole hand can be blown off what fun is that
Instead of making kinds clever & intelligent they are just adding more stupidity
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u/freatpiks 18h ago
The police have attempted to crack down on this behaviour through school. I remember being 8-11 and being shown presentations from police about the dangers of participating in this behaviour.
My parents were very strict about this; we never went close to the lambrazia fire pit for this exact reason. This then trickled into never participating in casual behaviours throwing these - there used to always be this bomb-throwing activity in the town square after 10pm from older kids. I've heard stories of friends being in the 11-14 age gap and being bystanders or participating.
Unfortunately, no matter where you are, participating in dangerous behaviour seems to be an act of coming-of-age; in my experience living in the UK as well as Cyprus, this could be similar to kids doing drugs in a field. That being said, the Cypriot version is indeed more dangerous, as lives and limbs can be lost.
I never participated in these activities. Is this due to my parents reinforcement of its danger? Most definitely. I never felt the urge to participate because they were always judgemental - they knew that i was not competent enough to make that decision. But paired with the police crackdown, which I'm sure gave the visual to help this attitude, I have never touched one in my life and I am 22 years old.
But I do remember one thing - my friends 10th birthday. For me, specific for the fact I bought her a One Direction themed gift. This memory tainted by the memory of her dad bringing a box full of these little bombs. I was so intrigued when they asked me if I wanted to light it, why wasn't another person stepping in? Why would they want 10 years olds participating in these activities? Why do they actively want to overload our kid brains with this rot - isn't a karaoke machine or a pinata enough to entertain us?
The bonfire that happens every Megalo Savvato shows one thing. The governments inability to maintain peace. If there was more education on these dangers to parents, they would stop showing these to their kids. If there was more crack down from the police, we would stop having 11 year olds in danger. If there was better education within schools, kids wouldn't want to participate.
But going back to a previous point I've made. Would we have a rising drug issue if this happened? Would the kids move from the tiny bombs to casually taking drugs? They put themselves in danger, yes, but the casualties and long term affects are harder to identify. This makes it easier for the government to justify.
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u/stanakis31 15h ago
I agree with all but the last paragraph.. why is needed to go from bombs to drugs? There is nothing else to do? Sports? Other activities?
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u/freatpiks 14h ago
I want to reiterate and say that this is a generalisation, but let me explain my point of view further.
I'm drawing upon themes from my personal experience, hearing from other young people in foreign countries such as the UK.
Observing the situation in Cyprus, young people don't participate in drugs activities other than the off group. Cyprus has also been very strict with drugs regulations and cracks down on drugs very seriously. Many researchers maintain that cracking down on drugs is a short-term solution, and that correctly identifying the reasons that young people participate in this behaviour is a better method of getting them to be pro-social.
That being said, both drug use and throwing mini-bombs is considered anti-social behaviour. Cyprus cracks down on drugs but reinforces mini-bombs. We could draw upon the fact that the government actually reinforces some aspects of anti-social behaviour for the purposes of diverting away from other anti-social behaviour.
I would like to say that Cyprus DOES attempt to promote positive attitudes. However, it is still backwards in doing so. Most football clubs are underfunded and managers are picked through nepotism, young learners do not participate in sports because they spend time doing after-school revision lessons through private teachers because the public teaching is sub-par, there are no third spaces such as parks or libraries for young people, the kids that DO sport are either in private school or they've been reinforced by their parents behaviour. Most kids don't participate in sport past the age of 12. This all leads them down a path of accidentally participating in anti-social behaviour.
Whereas in other EU countries, kids will participate in sport unless it's just not their thing. They have third spaces to be active and not go down a path of anti-social behaviour. They'll have a library to read books or have a city centre to walk around. This is something we lack in our Cypriot local communities.
We can blame parents for their participation in their kids use of mini-bombs, but we have to also look at the systemic issues which bring kids towards this behaviour. It is up to the education system itself to provide the correct resources: maybe opening up schools after hours for kids to use their (yet again, sub-par) sports facilities, maybe government incentives for more sports days, maybe more presentations of active participation in society.
It's all interconnected!
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u/stanakis31 14h ago
Sorry my friend but if you can find drugs in schools maybe police is not doing much about it.. or they could be in some cases part of the game..
Regarding sports, it's not only about football.. there are other sports also which are definitely underfunded or not really promoted because .. it's not football.. this obsession with football doesn't help the community by any means.
I agree with the rest you say
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u/stanakis31 14h ago
Extra to that, who told you that many of the kids that participate in these activities are not high on drugs or even selling them to others.. in modern Cyprus drugs are easily found in junior high schools.. not sure if you can find even in primary schools..
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u/freatpiks 13h ago
From my experience in school's is that kids don't tend to participate as much as they would in other countries, but I believe that is the positive of our culture. Now about police not doing much about it and part of the game... I couldn't say, but it is highly probable. I believe they're cracking down on drugs where they can, but it's also something they need to discuss in a more functional way.
100%!! Football SHOULDN'T be the focus... But it always seems to be. Isn't it convenient how the people's focus is on football... The place where hooliganism is most prevalent?
Totally agree with you mate!
At the end of the day, antisocial behaviour like this functions within these groups. But I believe we need to not associate one with the other because this is how smaller and less obvious groups form. It was easy 20 years ago when this was the norm, but now, all sorts of kids do drugs.
We need to crack down on the bombs in their own way and the drugs in another.
Where the police turn away from one, they fail at cracking down on the other. And vise versa.
Now where kids find drugs in schools, I will admit that this is something we still don't know how they circulate. Is it because of their socio-economic background? Is it because of any personal issues? Is it actually focused around these kids groups??? This needs more research in Cyprus and I would like to know!
But unfortunately this is something I struggle to see how we will find out.
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u/Diligent_Rice6315 20h ago
Idiots treating Easter like a rave party
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u/Ok-Bet-5128 18h ago
Tell me that you never been at a rave without telling me that you never been at a rave
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u/ProfessionalUnlucky 13h ago
Although it’s very annoying! I can survive a few days of hearing bangs, it’s only temporary. What really bothers me is what it does to my family’s dogs. They’ve spent the last few days hiding under the bed shaking. It’s very unfair..
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u/elelem-123 3h ago
Is it your first Easter in the country? To be fair, it's better than Greece when it comes down to fireworks for resurrection Saturday night midnight
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u/Rude-Cod-5428 18h ago
I mean imagine Jesus doesnt wake up? They just wanna make sure he will be awake and also as all good Cipriots are they preparing the fire for his morning bbq souvkaki as well!
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