The increasingly broad media coverage of extreme anti-social behavior is beginning to distance young people from the rest of society. The public can no longer understand the motives behind young people's actions. For example, the systematic attacks on ambulances in Manchester really scared the public, because they cannot identify with the culprits. If a criminal murders to feed his drug addiction, society understands; it does not approve of or condone the action, but it realizes why the person did it. In a society where the young want for little, many citizens cannot understand why some youths rail against it in the way they do. It seems illogical, against human nature . And here we come to the crux of the problem.

I fear that too many elderly are falling into the trap of thinking that because some young people behave in an apparently illogical way, they are in fact illogical. That because their behavior seems without human motive, they have no human motive, and without human motive, what are we except animals? That is not an opinion I agree with, but it is one that's inherent in the psyche of many individuals. After all, if someone has no motive, if they are intrinsically unreasonable, they might do anything, lash out at anyone - much like a dangerous animal that will strike out at everything which threatens it. That a well dressed young man with a friendly face could so terrify a middle-aged lady is testament to just how prominent that mindset is becoming among the ranks of British citizens.

I imagine that for many of the older generations, walking through a group of youths equates to something like crossing a field of cows during calving season, just after having heard about a spate of trampling. They appear to take no notice of you, yet you know that if you get too near, or if you run away, they will be onto you. And if one cow approached you, and if it got too close, your mind would race and you would wonder for one pulse-stopping second if that cow was going to attack. That is not because cows appear particularly aggressive, but because you have heard what they are capable of. Youths too, it seems, have a reputation for being dangerous animals.

Recent legislation has been passed enabling police officers to disperse groups of youths from town centers - not because they are causing trouble, but because locals are "intimidated" by their presence! How long until sections of our cities become "Youth Free Zones"? And by isolating youths from the community, what kind of adults will emerge? It's a scary prospect.