Sat 1 April - Parental responsibility

"Some time ago I commented about a twelve year old girl driving her father's car whilst drunk, and that her parents should have been held responsible for her actions.

"Last week that same girl, now 14, did the self same thing, again whilst under the influence of alcohol, and what did her mother do about it?

"Nothing, in fact she was somewhat miffed, and in very colourful langauge, and rather rude body motions, told reporters and the police to do things to themselves, as her daughter was being picked on or words to that effect.

"I cannot see that this sort of behaviour by a parent can do otherwise than encourage the child to do other than what she has been doing to date.

"I again say that the parent is the one to take to task over such activity, had they been tackled and penalised under a threat of, maybe, jail, then I doubt vey much that they would be so complacent and certainly not so mouthy when in public over the manner in which their daughter had been treated by the court.

"The legal system has been quick enough to take action against parents whose offspring fail to arrive at school on a regular basis, so what is the difference, I am tempted to ask?

"Allowing a small child free rein when young inevitably leads to ever more 'freedoms' being sought as they get older, with the ultimate being imprisonment or worse once they reach maturity.

"That is physical, not mental, as their undisciplined upbringing will never allow for that to occur - they will simply be immature for many decades due to the lack of control that should have been their lot when brought into the world and thereafter.

"We, the general public, are often the whipping boys when it comes down to these miscreants who are without doubt out of any sort of control.

"ASBOs may keep a proportion of these kids quiet for a while, but unless and until their parents are taught, by one means or another, that they are the responsible factors in the child and youth's demeanour, then we will never get from under this alarming state of affairs.

"There is room for youthful rebellion, always has been, but lately there is little space in our society for this rebellious nature to be nurtured along sensible lines.

"For this the government stands indicted, in that they have failed to establish routes that youthful exuberence can go down without causing mayhem and discord.

"There are plenty of cinemas, and other places of entertainment, but this costs money, which many of our kids cannot afford.

"Pubs and other places only lead to drunkenness, and its accompanying bad behaviour, so where are the places for the kids to go to get their kicks?

"Very few places indeed. They cannot do much these days without generating a criminal record, they cannot drive, they cannot go out and about without being shoved from one gathering place to another.

"The parents obviously do not want them forced to be indoors all the time, so what can they do? It is inevitable that some will go bad, whilst others simply suffer the boredom that legal and public restraints put upon them.

"We are desperately short of modern practices both parental and social. We need gathering places where they can ride their mini mopeds and do other stupid things withou being criminalised for doing so. Where is the government initiative in all this? Sadly lacking I am afraid.

"They are quick enough to bring the weight of the law down on kids, but despite the massive amounts of taxation, cannot provide for those same kids to engage in things that they obviously want to engage in.

"As I say, some parents need to be disciplined themselves, so that they can subject their offspring to a structured pattern of behaviour, but that does not abrogate the responsibility of the government to provide that which they should be providing."

Note - Morgan's views are not necessarily shared by the BBC