Thursday's Letters: Good behaviour begins at home, whatever the child's age

I was brought up in a household where I was made well aware that it was wrong to kill or injure other people, rob or steal from others, or damage or harm their property, all well before I was 10 years-old. My own family, and my grandchildren were brought up to be similarly aware.

Never mind thinking of increasing the age, give some thought to decreasing it to eight years, and for any infringement by a child, make the parents responsible. A few hefty fines might make some, if not all, parents take some interest in what their offspring are up to when out of the house, and hopefully exercise a modicum of parental control.

Charity begins at home and so does good behaviour.

From: Michael Booth, The Birches, Bramhope.

From: Martin Narey, Chief Executive, Barnardo's.

I WOULD like to respond to your editorial headed "Young Criminals" (Yorkshire Post, September 13).

My position is very clear – that children, even those as young as 10 and 11, need to face prosecution for the most grave offences such as murder, manslaughter or sexual attacks. This would mean that if there were another case like that of James Bulger then the perpetrators would be dealt with in exactly the same way as Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were. The courts would not have to seek any dispensation.

There is nothing to be gained from criminalising very young children for less serious offences and putting them through a court process they can barely fathom. In fact, the repercussions are a heightened chance of further offending, more victims and unnecessary cost to the taxpayer.

This is not to suggest that these children should not face up to the consequences of their bad behaviour. There are a range of meaningful

and effective interventions, involving the whole family, which can and should be employed, such as Family Intervention Projects which

challenge and support parents and their children to face up to their behaviour and accept responsibility for their actions.

This is not a soft option. And we are not arguing that children as

young as 10 do not know the difference between right and wrong. But we are insisting that family-based approaches are much more likely to be effective than resorting to criminal justice sanctions which fail to

get children off the conveyor belt to a life of crime.

From: Frank Pedley, Wood Close, Gisburn Road, Hellifield.

THE defect of the sentencing system (Yorkshire Post, September 13) is not the fact that the maximum is rarely used. It is the uncertainty of it.

By far the best piece of legislation in my service as a magistrate was that which made the loss of a driving licence for at least a year

automatic in the case of drink driving. It is the thing which motorists fear most and its effect could be seen in pubs from the first day of its operation. It also, as a by-product, made the pubs which survived much more pleasant places.

A penalty scale for other offences which cut out the special pleading by solicitors for their suspension would work wonders. Loss of job, care of relative, and the infinite variety of cases made by solicitors –all are known before the offence is committed. All the offender has to do is to refrain from it.

The coastal path needs our support

From: Claire Bastin, University of Leeds.

NINE months ago, the Marine and Coastal Access Act passed into law, so confirming the widely held view that the coast is a national treasure that we should all be able to share. Worryingly, over the past few weeks there have been many reports warning that the future of the coastal path may be injeopardy.

A complete coastal path would be a huge boost to the economy and the enjoyment of the British public, both of which are vitally important in these difficult financial times.

The coastal path costs relatively little but will bring much needed income and jobs to our beleaguered coastal regions. It will also be a source of attraction and enjoyment to tourists both from home and abroad. As the recession continues to bite, we are seeing more and more people abandon their plans for a foreign break in favour of a trip to the British seaside. Acomplete coastal path will ensure they have an attractive alternative should they decide to stay at home as we did

this year.

Whether you live by the sea or just occasionally visit, a complete coastal path will be a source of pleasure we can all cherish. There is nothing better to revive the body and mind then a walk along the British coastline.

I hope your readers will join me in calling on the Government to

continue to promote the coastal path and its part in the quintessential British seaside holiday, for the sake of our economy, our jobs and our enjoyment.

Television for boy racers

From: AB Collier, Burlington Court, Gordon Road, Bridlington.

I TOTALLY agree with PH Green (Yorkshire Post, September 3) with his criticism of the programme Top Gear. It has completely lost the plot. As he states, it is all about speed; cars hurtling round race tracks, screeching round corners and burning rubber. Right up the street of those young boy racers using supermarket car parks, etc as racetracks doing handbrake turns and competing to see who can produce the most smoke.

In the early days, they used to test and assess family cars passing on useful information to perhaps a would-be purchaser to help them to make a decision.

But now, also, ridiculous additions are made to cars which don't

represent any make or model. On occasion, some cars are downright dangerous and unfit to drive. What an example to set. If any member of the general public put a car on the road in that state, they wouldn't get away with it.

So, come on BBC, get real and restore Top Gear to its original format – sensible and informative.

Fight for the consumers

From: Mike O'Connor, Chief Executive, Consumer Focus.

IT was encouraging to see Mark Stuart's support for ordinary consumers against vested interests (Yorkshire Post, September 13).

We would also like to recognise the Yorkshire Post's first-rate

coverage of our work on issues that really matter to consumers in the last few weeks – from cheap electricity scams, the threat to local post offices, expensive payday loans, the cost of energy and the

investigation into energy mis-selling, the problems with ISA transfers –which Mr Stuart seems to have missed.

Mr Stuart wondered why we haven't commented on transport. The reason is that this is covered by our colleagues at Passenger Focus. While there is always a need to do more, Consumer Focus has made some real gains for consumers and continues to fight their corner.

Exposed to danger

From: Tony Wilding, Westfield Rise, Hessle, Hull, East Yorkshire.

WITH reference to your recent article on Leslie Howard, the naked gardener (Yorkshire Post, September 10), in his interests, one can only hope that his new intended neighbours, when doing some gardening of their own, don't mistake Leslie's privates for his privets.

From: RA Moore, North Road, Retford, Notts.

LESLIE Howard, a naturist, is wasting his time, effort and money

pursuing the Human Rights Act.

My wife and I had a case for privacy when a pelican crossing was

erected 12 feet from our driveway and 15 feet from our lounge window and front door.

Privacy from our front garden was taken away and our grandchildren

could not play there.

Below is a list of contacts who we approached in an attempt to have our privacy restored, but to no avail.

Local councillors – not interested; Member of Parliament – could not help; Department for Transport – did not want to know; the Ombudsman – no joy at all; Cherie Blair – not interested as not elected MP;

Department of Human Rights, Strasbourg (two applications) – waste

of time.

So, good luck to Mr Howard but we are not holding our breath.

Unions abandon patriotism in call for disobedience

From: Ken Holmes, Cliffe Common, Selby, York.

I WILL proudly go to my grave, never having been a member of any union. I have always found my own jobs, worked hard, and if I felt disgruntled or unhappy, moved on.

So it grieves me to hear the likes of union leader Bob Crow, calling for civil disobedience (Yorkshire Post, September 14). If that isn't diabolically unpatriotic to the extreme, then I don't know what is.

From: Ken Bradley, Leadhall Drive, Harrogate.

SINCE 1997, the Labour government created an additional threequarters to a million public sector jobs, many in traditional Labour strongholds to compensate for the demise of the mining and shipbuilding industries.

How many of these were necessary, we will never know.

If the present coalition Government wishes to reduce this artificially created workforce by up to 300,000, why should this come as a surprise to union leaders like Bob Crow and Brendan Barber?

Surely there is no justification for strike action or any chance of public support?

Quest for Kit Kat cappuccino

From: MJ Wadley, Olive Grove, Harrogate.

THE picture of a squirrel (Yorkshire Post, September 10) grazing on a Kit Kat, intrigued me.

If it is cappuccino flavoured, I would be most envious and would like to know where it got it from.

I can get Kit Kats of milk chocolate, and dark chocolate. There are also flavours of orange, mint or caramel. But I am trying to obtain a second purchase of the cappuccino flavoured bar – they seem have gone out of existence.

No credit for bankers

From: Mrs J Andrews, Back Lane, Easingwold, North Yorkshire.

ON checking my statement of account from Barclays Bank, I found an amount of 10 which I was unable to reconcile. This proved to be the charge for removing a document from their safe and handing it to us over the counter.

The same day I read of Bob Diamond's appointment to Barclays which

comes with a salary worth 11.35m per annum.

I'm not happy.

Food fight

From: Paul Buckley, Haigh, Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

JAMES Anthony Bulmer (Yorkshire Post, September 4) may have legitimate concerns over food waste or the price of food.

However, if food prices come down, it will not stop the vice of food waste – it will increase food waste.