I KEEP hearing and reading about the trouble this country is in with the number of stabbings etc and the use of knives in general, always asking what is the cause and what we can do about it.

I KEEP hearing and reading about the trouble this country is in with the number of stabbings etc and the use of knives in general, always asking what is the cause and what we can do about it. I don't know the answer, but it seems to me that over the years and since we have had political correctness and human rights coming into force that this country has gone to the dogs.

People are afraid to speak out when they see things which are wrong, are afraid to interfere if they see people being picked on or even attempt to stop people fighting. Our police force is no more and they are powerless to do anything. If they arrest anyone using any sort of force, they most likely will be taken to court by the person they arrested and no doubt the magistrate will come down on the side of the offender and not the police.

I think the real trouble started years ago when the teachers lost the right to give children the cane. It was then children were able to do what they wanted in school without the fear they would be called to account. I know that when I was at school both at Worle and in the Midlands in the last of the war years our teachers ruled the class with a rod of iron. We knew where we stood and we always called the teacher Miss or Sir, now the children seem to call them to by their Christen name. The teachers are powerless to do anything. It also seems that parents are to busy to ensure their children are polite and respectful.

On the streets we always saw a policeman. They were always on patrol and we treated them and our elders with respect. Of course when I became 18 I had to do two years national service. All I can say on that is if you were a trouble maker, cheeky or a bully the army soon knocked it out of you. If the powers-that-be had the right to send offenders to a boot camp for six to twelve months but with the parents paying for the upkeep of their children it might make both the parents and persistent offenders think twice and start to take some responsibility for their actions.

Plus we also now have almost 24-hour drinking. I think if the people who have these all-hours licences had to keep open all the hours they have asked for and keep them fully staffed and not, repeat, not be allowed to close the doors when the punters left for home long before their official closing time came you would soon find these drinking places would alter their request to have these long hours, as they would soon find it was not worth the expense. But that's just a thought.

L F ORME

Shrubbery Avenue, Weston