I THANK the person who wrote in endorsing my views that children live by what they learn (September 8).

However, from their comments on today's children being worse than previous generations, I assume they were not old enough to remember the Mods and Rockers of the Fifties and early Sixties.

The writer's comments were reminiscent of my mother's at that time, and all generations since. Who knows, they could be right.

After that we had the Swinging Sixties and all the "freedoms" that went with it.

That era spawned the drug culture which, down the decades, has developed into the most profitable industry of all time.

That is the legacy which a minority of my generation has passed on to today's youth.

Instead of hostility and criticism I suggest parents, grandparents and adults in general start leading by example and treat children as responsible people: after all most of them are.

How many children endanger lives by parking on pavements? How many children come out of the races causing mayhem and collapsing from too much alcohol? How many children break into houses, terrorising occupants?

These are just a small number of the examples being given by a minority of adults, to today's youth.

Perhaps the time has come to change the Three Rs to reading, respect, and restitution, preferably taught before and during school years.

Liz Edge,

Parkside Close, York.

Updated: 10:38 Tuesday, September 14, 2004