YOUR paper of February 2 cheered me up no end. There was the report on the disabled child and her mother being attacked in the most appalling incident perpetrated by what can only be described as scum.

Then of course there was the article on the difficulties that householders have protecting their property. The police's response was that we, the public, should take a more vocal role in countering the yob culture.

Then there was the well-meaning letter complaining about the lack of council-supplied activity clubs for youths.

I am a teenager. There is no club for youths to go to in my area. Many adult volunteers have given up trying, after a minority of youths made a complete nuisance of themselves. However I restrain myself, somehow, from mugging or attacking people; from attacking property; or stealing cars, joy riding them and then burning them.

The crimes of these youths are not the fault of any council, but of society in general. We have lost our identity as a moral, peace-loving society.

Where are the parents of these creatures?

We must protect ourselves from the growing yob culture in every manner possible. So where are the police, our lawful defenders? I know where they will be soon. They will be running around the countryside trying to stop fox hunters, who are accused of ignoring animal rights.

Forget animal rights, what about human rights? I demand the right for myself, and my fellow citizens, to walk in the street without fear. This is only possible if those streets are protected, which they clearly are not.

Who is answerable for the crisis we now face? You may well have guessed.

Is it not the time for a government that cares more for its own people than it does for the American President?

Chris Hanson,

St John's Close,

Wilberfoss,

York.

Updated: 10:40 Tuesday, February 08, 2005