It’s easy to be angry right now, and it’s easy to be disappointed in the younger generations. But people need to see that this isn’t an age thing, a race thing, a rich vs poor thing. Even if the majority of rioters were of a certain race, age or background, those are not the reasons behind this, and to blame any one group of people is simplistic and not very helpful. Perhaps I seem hypocritical with my accusations aimed towards chavs, but ‘chav’ is usually meant as a derogatory term by the people of the UK to describe those who have a certain bad attitude - or to describe those dropouts of society. It just so happens that they often dress the same. It’s not a pop at a culture, it’s more like a pop at a lack of culture.

Many people have been arrested of all races and different ages. Young girls as well as grown men. And as I have already heard, many young people are concerned that their generation is getting bad press.

I would like to support the young generations who despise this violence as much as everyone else does. Young people are our future, and the older generations hand over the responsibilities to them throughout the ages to keep this civilisation running. It is a minority who simply don’t understand the importance of responsibility. Unfortunately, that minority seems to be growing, and as I stated in my previous rant, the pressures to ‘fit in’ with the rest make this negativity like a lit match in a field of dry grass. People need to feel proud of being good citizens and having good manners, but I see how it’s uncool or ‘sad’ to behave in a decent way, and that somehow it’s shameful to be polite. This mentality needs inverting, and I’m sure this can happen, the rest of society manage to get on with it. The people who are drawn into this ‘bad attitude’ culture need to feel the rewards of being respectful to others, they have been robbed and are robbing themselves of this pleasure. I believe it is impossible to be happy if you are selfish. Stealing a TV may be a quick buzz for some, but contributing good to a society is everlasting. To plant a tree and never sit in its shade is still worthwhile, and I believe such selfless acts are rewarding in some deeper spiritual way.

What positive things do we have from these riots? Our grandparents’ generation often said that the war made people come together. My dad, who grew up in Birmingham in the 40s 50s and 60s, said that criminality was much lower then because there was a sense of community, a sense that you were all poor together and you didn’t punish each other for that. And we’re talking poor - families of 5 children sharing bathwater and a sharing a bed was probably the norm. Christmas entertainment was your dad playing the piano. My dad told me stories of kids going out snaring rabbits down the railway tracks, not for sick fun, their mothers were often grateful for something to put in the sunday stew no doubt.

Now, the tax payer funds a new park for kids to play in and then some ignorant yobs vandalise it, some claiming their motivation is ‘got nothing to do’ or ‘paying too much taxes’. The irony. Nothing is more pointless than wastefulness. Especially when it is cutting your nose off to spite your face. I think urban regeneration is a good thing, and hopefully one that helps reduce crime by giving people in slum areas an increased sense of dignity and that they are not the dregs of society that they may sometimes feel. But when you see that hard work being thrown back by certain people within those communities, what kind of message does that give out? It’s selfish and doesn’t represents the good folk.

Anyway… perhaps this rioting has brought something out in the open. The rioters used the internet as a means of gathering ‘troops’ as they sometimes like to see it. The rest of us can use the internet to share our views, see what other people feel, and even see what the rioters have to say for themselves.

I honestly think that the government and the education systems have some responsibilities here, and changes need to happen. But the rest of society have to help change things - not through retaliation or violence, but through education and the shaping of manners, etiquette, social behaviour etc. what goes around comes around, and that’s the rule that will change things - and that’s in everybody’s hands. We need to do this from the inside-out, not wait for a sheltered government to think legislations will cure it alone. I think legislations often provoke retaliation. Legislations that are intended to dissuade criminal behaviour may just be making it more appealing for those who wish to rebel. Success is when those people don’t feel the need to rebel, or realise that they’re fighting for the wrong causes. That’s something society has to work on. The kids needs educating, but way more importantly the parents of those kids out on the streets need educating!