WITH regard to the letter from John Wilkinson of Farnworth pictured in your paper drinking a can of beer with his friends. I totally agree with his thoughts about being typecast as a yob just because:

a) He is sporting a very short hair cut

b) He is drinking a can of beer and

c) He appears to be lounging about doing nothing

Being the mother of three sons of teenage years and just over, I can say that, on many occasions, they have been victimised by the general public and indeed the police for simply standing around with their friends. As John points out in his letter, a lot of these young teenagers have passed exams, hold down full time jobs and pay taxes but, to some people, the sight of any young teenager these days sporting a close crop of hair and standing around doing nothing must be up to no good, which in most cases is not the case at all. You cannot tar everyone with the same brush. Yes, there are yobs running around all over the place causing trouble and upset, but not every teenager is like that.

I wonder how many older people who complain about lads like John can honestly say that, in their younger days, they did not go behind the bike sheds for a sly smoke or try to get into a pub while under age.

I am in my late 40s and a respectable citizen and can honestly say that I have seen more bad manners and anti-social behaviour from people of a "responsible" age than I have younger people. Let's face it, youngsters only have to laugh out loud in the street to be classed as anti-social.

Maybe if older people treated the young like human beings then there would be more respect from them. After all, respect does have to be earned you know.

Sheila Massey

Greenheys

Harwood

Bolton