Children are suffering from: Too much unsupervised, unstructured 'leisure' time, too much media depicted violence; too little home and garden space to play and work in; too little parenting often due to dependence on long hours of paid childcare, whilst parents do (other) work. Violent media 'games'...is it any wonder that we are facing a generation of violent teenagers? When will common sense prevail? When will the violence stop? A great deal would be achieved by replacing violent images with images of people helping each other, communicating with each other, working together for positive goals. The deep negativity of messages and images which prevail across media is corrosive, corrupting, and hardening of the better side of the human spirit. When the negative messages are replaced with positive messages, conditions will improve. The media has a lot to answer for, in spite of its strident, indeed militant assertion to the contrary.

E Funnell, Cambridge,

hello i am 17 and i think that it is not anything to do with the parents well it can be but in most cases it is not i got brought up well and i started hanging with the wrong crowds in high school and started stealing i have always known its wrong but i did it to act cool at the time i have changed now though and parents cannot always know were their kids are they ask you and you say your goin out and the kids dont even know were they are going at the time their just going out and about if you know what i mean

Thomas T , preston, england

society gets what it deserves.limiting sentences for under 18s and the destruction of the family norms have led to chaos .we have no chance of improvement because the gov.that is in power has caused this through there anti family policies,encouraged by femenine pressure groups .so we have a situation where kids rule school, home and the streets.god save us all.

dennis millbrow, stevenage, england

I reckon that the curfew should go ahead and i think it is discusting that no one has been charged on half the murders or that people are on bail! whos to say they wont just go out and do it again, atleast tag them or something so u can check up on them!!!

Jessica, Bricket wood,

This is a national scandal.All over the country,gangs of feral youths are causing fear and havoc.It is time for authority to get a grip.National Service should be obligatory for ALL young people who are not in full time employment, taking MEANINGFUL examinations, or going on to worthwhile further education.
Parents are failing to fulfill their obligations,it is time for the state to act.The alternative is anarchy.

Michael Rigby, Blackburn, England

The youth`s of today have gone completly off the rails .judging by the report above which states how many murders ,how many arrests and how any people have been charged only to be let out on bail these people are quite literally getting away with Murder.
Most not all children are this way inclined .Where are the parents of these animals .will they only take notice when their childs actions finally catches up with them and they become a victim?
these animals have far to much rights and they know exactly when to use them .
I have four sons and each and every one of my boys know i will personally deal with them anyway i have to whether it is by a hiding or turning them in for breaking the law .The goverment has no right telling parents they cannot discipline their own kids.no wonder the kids have no bloody respect

ang, london,

Bring back the death penalty. It is the only way to eradicate knife and gun crime.

john lamont, Glasgow, UK

Put a restriction, children 16 or under, are not aloud out, hold the parents at fault with a fine or even community service. Anyone who kills someone in this country, and found guilty, should be sentance to death. People just don't care anymore, human rights should be taken away, when the human rights are taken from the victim, it's only fair that human rights are taken from the guilty party. On top of this prisons, should be made to be horrible, no nice food or TV or games. Would reduce costs and deter people from commiting crimes. It;s obvious that trends are changing as such we need a punishment system to suit.

I hope one day this government will realise this!!!

Adam Webb, Mk, UK

Why arnt the people of this country allowed to carry Mace or CS spray as they are allowed to do on the continent. What is it about the English public that they are not considered responsible enough by our authorities to carry non lethal methods of self defence. Some of the youths today carry lethal weapons for self defence, knives, wouldnt it be better for them to carry non lethal. Any person found using the spray for non defensive purposes would be commiting a crime and punished. Better than being attacked and having the choice of running, you may still be caught, or possibly ending up killing someone. Surely we should have the right to self defence as a basic human right?. Did you realise that the maximum sentence for possession of a CS spray is 10 years as opposed to the possession of a pistol, 5 years. Does that make sense to you?

Alan, Chelmsford,

Knife crime amongst the young - another legacy of the Blair years. Once one of them carries a knife then the rest do for protection and then use it over fairly trivial offences. I can't imagine what this country is going to be like in 10 years time.

carole, London, uk