[shillelagh]

How many parents nowadays if asked by someone where their kids are. When i was a kid we used to 'muck about' down the garages (where the cornmills are) and wrecked a couple of them - there was only one of the garages being used out of 6 of them so we had the end 2. We used to shelter in them if it was raining but all our parents knew where we were. We werent far from the houses but far enough away not to cause a disturbance to the people in the houses. Plus they all knew us and we all knew which ones were the ones who were going to complain to our parents in otherwords we knew if we did anything wrong we knew our parents would be told. My dad used to walk past on his way up to the club at 8.30 and i had to be round there or he'd wonder where i was. Also i had to be in at 9pm even when i was 15 unless i had gone to the disco and then i had to be home for 10pm. If i was late i was docked half an hour the following night. How many 15 year olds do you see out on the street now - later than 9pm? We had a healthy respect for our parents. The only thing i can think off is that it is my generation who are the parents of teenagers now. In the 80's there was that everything is me, me, me, no one thinking of others. Now we are reaping the benefits of the me, me, me generation.

I dont have any kids - but i do have nieces and nephews that are teenagers the only thing is my brother and sisters have brought them up with a healthy respect for others, couple of blips here and there but not one of them has been brought home by police.