Don't blame the parents

Watching the interview with the widow of Gary Newlove, the father of three brutality kicked to death outside his own house, I was pleased with the sense of outrage I felt.

Our society has crumbled so much over the past few years it's easy to pass this sort of event off with a shrug, but watch the emotional statement of a grieving widow and reality hits.

Cheap booze and bad parenting is being blamed for the decline. Personally I like cheap booze. I enjoy it fairly responsibly and it doesn't result in the need to go out and commit criminal damage and act violently. Increasing the age of legal purchase of alcohol to 21 would be a better idea than increasing the price.

As for poor parenting I know from bitter experience that a teenager will do whatever he wants to do. Instilling core social values into your children as they grow up is essential - but once they reach their formative teenage years hormones, peer pressure and the need to socialise take over, and there's not much you can do about it. Try telling a 16 year old towering above you that he can't go out.

But once a delinquent kid turns 18 there is a simple solution. Sever the umbilical cord and throw them out. Remove the comforts of a bed, a fully stocked refrigerator and hot and cold running water. It's harsh. It goes against all parental instincts, but for some it could give them enough of a shock to make them look at themselves and grow up. And hopefully it would go someway to shutting up the 'I blame the parents' brigade, who know nothing about the social pressures of 2008.