Parents should accept responsibilitiesA T last the powers-that-be are beginning to accept their responsibilities.

Parents of persistent truants are being taken to court, and one has even been sent to prison. At last!

But haven't these laws been in place for many years? Those of us who remember the days before television can also remember the "School Board" who visited parents should any child dare to play "wag". Parents were warned, taken to court, and indeed were jailed for their irresponsibility.

The same applied to tenants who failed to adhere to the Conditions of Tenancy. They were warned by the rent collector, even for what may seem quite trivial today, such as allowing private hedges to grow above a certain height. If they continued to flout the rules, they were evicted.

But people knew what to expect, they had respect for authority and, consequently, truancy and anti-social problems were far less in evidence than they are today.

It would seem then that the lax approach of those in authority -- for whatever reason -- could well be the root cause of these ever-increasing social problems. Had the rules been enforced diligently over the years, crime and anti-social behaviour problems would perhaps not have escalated as they have.

A civilised society needs to have rules. It also needs to have people who will enforce those rules. Children, especially, need to learn this from the earliest years, for their own benefit, and for the sake of a civilised society.

Brian Derbyshire

Ribchester Grove

Bolton