Buzzin Disgrace

The focus in this week’s Panorama programme was on violent anti-social behaviour.

I’m sure the majority of us have been the victims of petty crime committed by these brainless mini-thugs who seem to think their repetitive whine of ‘we’re bored, give us something to do & we won’t behave like this’ is a reasonable excuse for their behaviour.

Unfortunately the types of crime committed by these ‘bored youths’ has escalated way beyond broken wing mirrors and balls being kicked against walls and we are seeing more and more reports of people who, whilst trying to protect their family and property, are being murdered.

The programme showed us how Anne Glover, herself a victim of anti-social behaviour, has managed to rally round her local community and fight back against this type of crime by using ‘people power’.

The police, unable to cope with the increase in this type of crime are backing what the experts are labelling ‘social capital’ as a way for residents to win back their streets, in conjunction with regular police patrols.

But can this really work? In Ann Glover’s case it seems to have, her estate is now actually somewhere people can feel safe in their own houses again.

But in today’s anonymous society we have people who work long hours and have no idea who their neighbours are, or people who have never worked and can’t drag their arses of their sofas to find out who their neighbours are. Villages filled with second homes that stand empty most of the year and a education system that is no longer allowed to instil respect into overindulged and spoilt children.

So can we really expect to return to the days when knowing there was an informer behind every net curtain was enough to make you think twice about spitting on the street or scrumping apples from a neighbours garden.

We knew we could expect a suitable punishment from our parents and unfortunately the youth of today seem to have no respect for that or anything else!