Letter: Youth behaviour not all that different in New Forest these days

It is interesting enough to make a comparison of what John Walsh (A&T Letters 22nd Aug) points out about the attitude acquired over many years regarding the behaviour of youngsters today and that of 25 years ago – the start of the millennium – when, according to From Our Files, youth was no different in their behaviour (and it is worthwhile to note: Covid couldn’t be blamed as is often the case today).

The only difference between those years and today is that we are blessed/spoilt/ruined by advances in both science and technology which make our lives so much easier both physically and mentally that we are now to a great extent dependent on them.

What we might have had to do ourselves in the past is the outcome of this progress. However, one thing a machine isn’t capable of rendering is the ability of bringing up a child in a way that he or she will progress and eventually develop to become a well-balanced, healthy, caring, tolerant member of a peace-loving community, all of which add up to the value and the continuation of a worthwhile framework and extended foundation of human society.

So how is this achieved? That unique task lies solely initially with the parents establishing a stable home background, with additional support and contributory help from such as teachers and the various structures and organisations we now have within our lives and certainly not forgetting our peers and mainly ourselves. When this is achieved, as John Walsh concludes, we all, hopefully, benefit from the effort and gain. And let it be remembered from the wise words of the clergyman John Donne, about 400 years ago, who said “No person is an island”. We are all in this together.

M Hill
Barton