National service is no longer an option. In these times of high tech soldiering, the army can't be expected to supply a role for uneducated, undisciplined and indolent teenagers, just to get them out from under our feet.

It should be remembered too that these kids are the minority of young people who, while they are a bloody nuisance socially, are also to some extent victims of a laisser faire culture developed during the 1960s by a bunch of trendy twerps with sociology degrees and delusions of infallibility.

Those we are now finding so difficult to deal with, are the grandchildren of the Dr. Spock generation, who were brought up in the belief that it would blight their little psyches if anyone said NO to them.

In the main, undisciplined parents raise undisciplined kids, and it doesn't get better over three generations, it gets worse.

The vast majority of youngsters are actively engaged in getting themselves the best education they can, as well as supporting local organisations, and charities.

For the minority, it is probably too late to effect much improvement in their lives, or their impact on the neighbours.

Most of the work of rearing a disciplined adult is done before the age of two. One thing which is guaranteed to bring smoke from my ears, is the adult,watching a toddler behaving badly, who says "Awww! Isn't that cute?"

NO IT ISN'T! And if we let the child think it is, we are setting him up for trouble later on.

We don't approve of smacking any more (I don't mean beating, just a slap on bottom or hand), and we are the only animal on this planet that doesn't. Why? Well I haven't a clue.

What I do know is this. With the use of a very occasional slap, my two kids knew all the house rules by the time they were two years old, and neither needed a slap beyond that age. Of course they broke rules, and misbehaved, but they knew that no meant NO,,and loss of privileges would follow.

Do I feel guilty about the few times I smacked them? Emphatically not! I never had to worry about their behaviour, and they both have very good careers, and I feel that I helped to put them on that path.

Next time you see a bunch of hoodies looking menacing on a street corner, stop and think, that the person responsible may be sitting at home watching telly, and not caring enough to have tried.

Don T.