WHAT a sad sign of the times that some people think problem teenagers require "rage rooms" where they can vent their frustrations and smash things.

As our report yesterday revealed, members of a research project on suicide and self harm among young people, believe that such places are needed because there has been a startling increase in the number of youngsters who burn and cut themselves.

While we do not want to dismiss out of hand anything which helps such teenagers cope with dreadful difficulties which could include sexual and physical abuse, this does seem like a peculiarly negative way of dealing with the situation. Showing them how to work off their frustration in positive ways through work and sport would seem to be a more useful way of helping them to cope.

The Department of Health, who have funded the research project, should be sure that other avenues of treatment have been thoroughly explored before inviting unhappy and mixed up youngsters into "rage rooms".

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.