We're setting a rotten example

YOUNG people today. They must despair of us.

Everywhere they look they see their elders and supposedly betters breaking the law, flouting authority and generally behaving badly.

Take yesterday. Pro-hunting protesters invaded the Commons chamber and are now under arrest on charges of violent disorder.

Earlier in the day another campaigner, retired nurse Jackie Howells, told reporters that the Government "must remember that roads, railway tracks and phone lines run through the country and we can cause trouble if we need to".

Others carried banners stating that they would defy any new law and carry on fox hunting.

These threats followed the daubing of pro-hunting slogans over North Yorkshire road signs in 2002.

Then there are the Fathers4Justice. They too may believe they have a just cause. But what sort of example are they setting their own children and others by storming York Minster and Buckingham Palace, or throwing flour bombs at Prime Minister's question time?

These are the headline-grabbing stunts which pit self-declared "law-abiding citizens" squarely against authority.

More insidious, though, are the thousands of daily examples of anti-social behaviour and thoughtlessness perpetrated by people well into adulthood.

On Saturday we told how four-year-old Cameron Martin's special day out was ruined by impatient motorists. Mum Claire had taken him to McDonald's at Clifton Moor, York, to help him gain confidence with the walking frame he needs to get about.

But drivers did not wait at the zebra crossing and left disabled Cameron scared and stranded on the opposite side of the road from his mother.

Then there are the motorists who park on yellow lines and cause obstructions. Or the householders who dump their rubbish in the street. Or the drinkers who get into street brawls, or vomit and urinate in the doorways of shops and houses. Or those who swear loudly in front of children...

Former York councillor Liz Edge has her own list.

"The Countryside Alliance spokesman's main reaction to the change in the law that's coming was that he's going to break it," she said.

"An adult goes to the bank in Holgate, he doesn't want to walk 50 yards down the road to a supervised free car park. So he parks outside on the pavement, forcing an elderly lady in a wheelchair on to the road on a blind bend.

"These same people are the ones who, when I was a councillor, always rang me up at all hours of the night complaining about young people sitting and chatting outside."

She said that kids learn from our example. If they see adults flouting the rules, "they will develop the same attitude".

Rosie Wall, chair of the Chapelfields Residents Association in York, believes we are too lax with children today.

"Children, I think, are spoilt. They have got to learn to earn respect."

But it is down to us to do the teaching.

"A lot of young 'uns are misunderstood. People come out shouting and bawling at them, there's no need for it. If you speak to them with respect, they're going to learn respect for society."

York deputy council leader Andrew Waller is sure that society is becoming more self-centred.

"There's certainly a more selfish streak. People are always putting themselves first, and I think that traditional morality of having consideration for other people is in decline."

He is sure that "this is passed on to the next generation who are putting themselves first all the time and don't really care about the consequences of their actions.

"It's unfortunate. That becomes the standard and people who behave in a more worldly fashion are pushed into the minority."

That is why his council launched York Pride, including on-the-spot fines for litter louts and a crackdown on nuisance neighbours.

"We are trying to bring back a sense of pride, which many of the older residents are quite clear about. That's the way in which they were brought up.

"They appreciated the benefit of living in a clean and pleasant environment and knew a period where there was much more trust in people."

York police commander Chief Superintendent Tim Madgwick is saddened by this me-first, who-cares attitude among the adults who are supposed to be role models for the young.

"You could talk about a whole range of things. Just in relation to disabled parking: when you look at it in the cold light of day, how can anyone justify using a disabled parking space if they're fully able?

"Litter is another example, which bugs me particularly. The usual response is that someone else is paid to pick it up.

"But somebody else is paid to clean up if you vomit or urinate in doorways, but that doesn't mean it's behaviour we should be aspiring to."

The diminishing respect for authority makes life much harder for Ch Supt Madgwick and his officers.

So how best to police this question of public standards? "Some of these things are breaches of the law, particularly section five public order offences which could be just swearing or things that cause people harassment, alarm and distress," he said.

"My mother would be very alarmed if someone used swear words running past her in the street.

"People have different standards. One person will ring us up about anti-social behaviour which they think is appalling. Other people will think that is just how life has become.

"We're in a difficult position. There's a changing culture out there. I don't think we want a grey, flexible response where we just say okay, that's all right. But we need to use common sense as well."

That means officers using their discretion. Police could not arrest everyone who used bad language in York city centre. But they could advise individuals that it was unacceptable behaviour and take further action against those who failed to heed their words.

"Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that we need to set standards as do teachers and other key people," said Ch Supt Madgwick.

The most key people in setting an example to the next generation are parents and guardians. "You will have limited effect if everything is undermined by the adults who are most significant in their children's lives."

As a former York police commander, city centre manager and past-president of York Rotary Club, John Liley is a man who has earned respect. He got it, too, as a policeman in the Fifties.

Now he is appalled by its decline. "One of the things that jars on me is the language. You hear some people using the foulest of language.

"People push and barge, people jump queues.

"I saw a girl cycling on the footstreets the wrong way down Davygate on the pavement: that's three laws she's broken. It's pretty staggering."

Society is on a slippery slope. "We imitated our parents and were brought up to have good manners. They imitate their parents, and that's why their manners have deteriorated very badly."

He believes boorish, inconsiderate conduct is linked to crime, and sees the answer as "something approaching zero tolerance" with young miscreants taken home to face mum and dad.

"And if the parents exhibit the wrong outlook, perhaps we should look at giving them compulsory guidance."

Mr Liley added: "After 34 years in the police, I believe there's a limit to what you can do without court action.

"I really do think that we have descended so far since I was a young and middle aged copper that we now face quite a challenge."

Updated: 11:02 Thursday, September 16, 2004