[Acrylic-bob]

I have noticed that according to The Observer, the police attribute the cause of the Rhyddings Park vandalism to underage drinking, adding that there are a number of teenagers in the area who’s behaviour has been causing concern. They now say that they are going to increase the number of Special Constables on the beat to tackle the issue and any one caught will be arrested. Well, I bet that news has the little bu**ers shi**ing themselves all the way to Alcoholics Anonymous!

Given that underage drinking has been a problem for a number of years across the borough, is this not an example of ‘too little, too late’? How about having a look at where the wilful little sh*ts get hold of the booze. Is it not time to take a look at the licences of corner shops, with an eye to making a few, very public, examples ‘pour la encouragement les autres’, as the detestable French have it.

Stephen Twigg, the government minister responsible for Alcohol and Drugs education in schools, believes there is a paucity of education where alcohol abuse among schoolchildren is concerned. And that what is needed is more specifically targeted warnings of the dangers, this, despite the fact that Alcohol Awareness is supposed to be a part of the National Curriculum. (source: Guardian 18/11/03)

Well at least he got that right, but we have to live with the consequences while his department pussy-foots around changing the emphasis on words.

Can no one in authority see that what is needed is action, not words? I, for one, am sick to the back teeth with all the bleeding-heart liberal bleating that we must try to understand them, that we have had stuffed down our throats for the past thirty years.
Where has it got us? Are these snotty nosed little barbarians any better behaved?

These kids need to be confronted with the consequences of their wilfulness. They need to be shown the amount of distress they cause and they also need to be made to take part in the job of cleaning up the mess they leave behind. They need to know that the society they live in disapproves of their behaviour and that it is capable of, and willing to, withdraw the privileges it accords them. They should be publicly shamed and their parents with them, since, it is my view, that the parents are often as not, just as much, if not more, to blame.
I want retribution. I want to see the little swines paraded through town in sackcloth and ashes. I want them made to stand in front of the Market Hall on a Saturday afternoon with a placard of their misdeeds hung round their necks. I want public apologies. A slap on the wrist just doesn’t do it for me! Nor does ‘can’t be named for legal reasons’!