Apologies - that was me above - so to avoid confusion let me repeat my opinion:

I think that "GUEST: Tony" is being very aggressive and confrontational in his posts aimed at Flora and that this is unnecessary. It's unfortunate that the very loose moderation of this site means that someone can make these posts without being warned about their behaviour.

Clearly Tony feels that "youngsters" is a derogatory term and that "young people" is the correct and desirable term that should be used, but concentrating on this (in a very aggressive manner) to the exclusion of the actual debate is unfortunate and unhelpful. I also doubt very much that young people would be seriously offended by the term youngsters to the extent that that it would deter them from participating in the music. They might think it a bit naff and old-fashioned, but to compare it to the N-word is ludicrous and in itself offensive.

I rarely get involved in these Mudcat spats but feel that Flora G (who I do not know at all!) is being unfairly maligned in this conversation.