PHIL ROE (Readers' letters, July 11), thinks that the young people of today are not a lot different from those of the 1960s.

Try telling the people in the outlying villages who are terrorised every weekend by hordes of vandals.

Try telling the people in Grosvenor Terrace and Burton Stone Lane, in York, who regularly have their car tyres slashed.

Try telling the emergency services and bus drivers who, when going about their business, are stoned by some of the young people of today.

What about the victims of stabbings and handbag snatching? Would they agree with his theory? I think not.

I was a young person in the 1960s. We went to church, we joined youth clubs and we played sport at every opportunity. The nearest we got to drugs was the odd aspirin. If we committed any offence, large or small, we were dealt with by either teachers or parents, which is not allowed in today's pampered society.

Stamford Bridge must be a lovely place to live, but Mr Roe should not believe it is typical. As well as writing to The Press, he should read it.

A P Cox, Heath Close, Holgate, York.