Starting this blog in midweek makes for a short review. The earlier events of the week gave examples of how an increasing number of teens today are out of control. It was mentioned about the three Liverpool youths who kicked a man to death and how the mother of two of the boys now had all of her sons behind bars for murder.Of course these events paled when the Boston marathon bombers hit the headlines. This also involved two brothers the youngest of which a 19 year old. The boys uncle was on the news condemning them but I have since heard reports the mother says they were 'set up'. I fail to see how any innocent person can get into a gun battle with police, but that is not the issue here.
The mother of the Liverpool teens was sentenced to just 30 months for providing the boys with a false alibi. My second book The Other Side of the Fence is set in an area not dissimilar to the one the Liverpool lads come from and I have seen first hand this siege mentality. Parents refuse to take responsibility for their young who are borderline cases of neglect, but as soon as they are in trouble the parent(s) - usually a single parent - will defend their offspring no matter what they have done.
Below is an article I wrote last year about knife-crime and the lack of discipline in kids today.....
It has long been my belief that a 'clip round the ear' was sufficient deterrent to at least make kids consider the consequences of their actions. It is illegal to physically discipline a child in the UK today. I can't help feel this has had adverse effects on society in general. Even the village 'Bobby' was liable to administer such a chastisement in days gone by. Now kids have nothing to fear. Could it be as a result of this that teens today are so in fear of physical harm (more from their peers than any other source), that they have taken to carrying weapons.
Have we bred a generation of cowards because the bleeding hearts scream 'abuse' if they see a child get a smacked bum? I don't condone beating children because of what I endured and perhaps it has been the excesses of the past which has led to this swing to the other extreme, but certain errant behaviour requires a 'short, sharp, shock' and I don't believe a slapped bottom can be classified as child abuse.
I know as a child I learnt to take care of myself and in many ways it was because of my father. He instilled such fear in me that adversity of any other kind paled into insignificance. Today there is no respect for teachers, the police, or the older generation. I'm not saying fear is the way to deal with things, but there has to be middle ground.
One day my two girls came in to the house having been chased by a bunch of girls of a similar age. When I was that age the approach of an adult would automatically cause a cessation of any unruly behaviour, but I was met with 'What're you going to f*****g do?'
My reply took them by surprise, but had the desired effect.
'I will tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to go round to your house and hit your dad on the chin. Then I'm going to tell him exactly why I did it'.
The girls muttered under their breath as they went away. They never troubled my girls again.
One in 10 teenagers in knife crime "hotspots" targeted by the government say they still have to carry a weapon to feel safe, a Newsbeat poll shows.
More than half of the people questioned said they are worried about other teens carrying a knife when they go out.
Fifty-three per cent surveyed said the government would not be able to reduce teen violence over the coming months.
The survey questioned 500 people aged 13 to 19 in five of those hotspots - London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Thames Valley.
A quarter of the teenagers surveyed said they knew someone who had been stabbed
The majority said young people carry a knife not to commit a crime but for protection or respect from their friends. Two thirds of all under-18s asked said it was either 'very easy' or 'fairly easy' to buy a knife. The government has raised the age limit to buy a knife from 16 to 18 and asked the Trading Standards Institute to crack down on underage sales in hotspot areas.
When asked to name the "most effective" way of reducing knife crime, 30% of young people in hotspot areas said they wanted to see tougher sentences for carrying a weapon.
The latest figures from the Ministry of Justice show 6% of under-18s caught with a knife were sent straight to jail in the first three months of the year, up fractionally on the same period in 2008.
What counts as knife crime?
'Knife crime’ is an expression that covers any crime that involves a knife.
- carrying a knife or trying to buy one if you’re under 18
- threatening people with a knife
- carrying a knife that is banned
- a murder where the victim was stabbed with a knife
- a robbery or burglary where the thieves carried a knife as a weapon
Crimes involving knives still make up a small percentage of the total crimes committed every year in the UK, but there have been a lot of stories in the news recently where teenagers have been injured or killed by someone using a knife as a weapon.
Some people say that they carry a knife to protect themselves or make themselves feel safer, even though they would never think of using it. But did you know that you’re actually more likely to become a victim of crime if you’re carrying a knife? It could even be used to harm you by someone else.
Of course the other thing in the news was football and the behaviour of Newcastle and Millwall 'fans'. They were hardly shining examples to our youth and their thuggery shamed their clubs. It was easy to have ago at brawling fans attacking police and condemn them as bad examples but what of the overpaid idols looked up to by so many youngsters? How many young Liverpool fans for instance have the name Suarez on their replica shirts. If there is one it is one too many!
The Uruguayan's disgusting display calls into question his sanity. During the course of the game Suarez lost the ball and promptly BIT the opposing player. Nor was it the first time. Suarez was banned for seven games by the Dutch FA when playing for Ajax and doing the same to another opponent. It turned out to be the last game he ever played for Ajax. I wonder how the English FA and Liverpool Football Club will deal with him.
For the answers to yesterday's puzzles and a review of the weekend's football click on 'read more>' below
Technically speaking, an ounce of feathers is lighter than an ounce of gold. This is due to gold being weighed in Troy ounces which are 480 grains compared to the avoirdupois ounce which is 437.5 grains.
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