AGREED that public morals are a moving feast, but increasingly, a number of parents seem unwilling or unable to instil a sense of public responsibility in their children. Yesterday, officially, I became a 'grumpy old man'. In Grove Park, an adolescent sc

AGREED that public morals are a moving feast, but increasingly, a number of parents seem unwilling or unable to instil a sense of public responsibility in their children.Yesterday, officially, I became a 'grumpy old man'. In Grove Park, an adolescent schoolboy was standing alongside one of the flower beds 'winding his dog up' and pretending to throw a ball to encourage his dog to run into the bed. He saw me approaching, and decided to actually throw the ball, and the dog duly responded and charged straight through two flower beds. For the first time in my life, I voiced my disapproval, rather than gritting my teeth and walking by.This lad appeared 'hell-bent' on finishing off the work reportedly recently started by some of his fellow school-children in the mid-term break, destroying the flower display in one of our prettiest parks.I challenged the young boy, and said 'responsible owners keep their dogs on a lead'. He said 'why, how can the dog do its pooh?' I said there were notices about keeping dogs on leads. I asked him if he had some plastic bags to pick up any faeces, and he grunted 'yes', but his whole body language was 'no'. I was left with the impression that he'd been sent to Grove Park with the family dog, and his parents didn't actually care what happened when he arrived there. So neither did the young boy. Little wonder that a number of our children are damaging and defacing our streets and parks, when parents fail to set standards and instil any sense of public responsibility in their young.DAVID WOOD - Shrubbery Avenue, Weston