“Furthermore the last time I went over the park I remember seeing quite a lot of tennis courts. Not being used by players but by the ‘dregs’ of society to drink alcohol on. There was not a sport going on in sight except for two lonely looking skaters trying to enjoy their pastime with no area to do it on”.

The above is an extract from an excellent article on the BTT website; a few words disturbed me.” ‘dregs’ of society to drink alcohol” You see like the articulate people of BTT they are human beings. My generation must shoulder much of the blame for these young people, we have sat back whilst successive governments have “liberalised” society. The result “‘dregs’ of society to drink alcohol” we now have the present government wanting to allow 24 hour drinking. Cries abound about freedom to please ourselves, I ask how many more casualties so described by the articulate young of BTT as “‘dregs’ of society to drink alcohol”

What are the solutions? Firstly to exhort our elected representatives to oppose any application for 24 hour licenses.

As a committed Christian I think “Street Pastors “ would be a step in the right direction. This doesn’t involve going round saying, “Are you saved brother” the reply will be well deserved!!
It is more a case of listening and offering help when asked for.
When tried , the success has been phenomenal and police support is growing.
I have put this idea to the Churches Together and through the Faith Network to the Clergy of Ashton. As yet I have had no success.

But if nothing is done this problem will grow, over 130 years ago Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli wrote a book called “Sybil” ie. Two nations. Do we want that?

Alan

Town: ajames46@fsmail.net

I whole heartedly agree with your sentiments Alan, society seems to have gone mad with the abundance of alcohol. I am only 37 but I do remember my own generation drinking at a young age - only it seemed harder to come by then; unless someone knew someone who would buy it on our behalf.

This country isnt able to cope with 24hr drinking, as it is on the continent. There it seems more of a way of life - e.g. a glass of wine with your meal - here it is taken completely out of context. The more you can knock back the bigger hero you become!!!

I can not believe our own Government! It is quite obvious the whole brain-storm is down to greed and more money in the coffers - we only have to look at smoking. It is a known fact that there are serious health implications linked with this other drug and yet the Government (past and present) will do nothing to solve it!

I really think that the problem is already out of hand and needs to be on the cirriculum at school, as early as primary. Trouble is, though, there are so many horrors that we want to protect our children from, where on earth do we start? I also accept that this issue should be addressed, PRIMARILY, at home. Is it all we can do, to offer our advice and support? But when they are told not to press the red button ...

"When tried, the success has been phenomenal and police support is growing." out of curiosity Alan, has this been done here in this borough?

At first the idea of allowing 24hour drinking is'nt a problem. People can go and watch the match in a morning and enjoy a beer, but as everything you will get the people who will take it a step further. Sadly i do not think that you can stop underage drinking from the 'dregs' of Ashton, and it would be easy to say that kids do it because they have nothing else to do; but this is'nt always the case, most kids do it because it is there, it feels good and they want it: even this wouldnt give me cause for concern because some people will acknoledge it's not good for you to do every week, but the problem is it is a way of life for some people. It is a style of living mostly taken up by 'chavs' and 'scallies' this may be stereotyping them but it is true. The idea of groups of teens in tracky bottoms tucked into their socks and rockports on going down to the park to drink cider and 'get stoned' is a style of living. Kids have nothing more to do than look forward to getting drunk on a friday night. The only way to tackle that problem is to police the parks for these people because they simply will not learn about the dangers of alcohol.
I must admit the articles on BTT are incredibly well wrote and very accurate. I was going to attempt to write one myself but knew i couldnt match up so gave it a miss. Best to have a few good ones than many okay ones.

Town: moshman01@hotmail.com

Hi Aaron

you are probably right in saying that it has now become a way of life for these kids. (arent chavs the kind who wear Burberry in various forms? And, who are 'scallies' these days?).

You are also probably right in saying that someone telling you 'not to drink 'cos it's bad for you' wont discourage you. Thing is, you are one of the good kids and those 'dregs' are in a minority and it's them who are giving kids (soz) like you a bad name!

The sad fact is, these kids do it because they want to, not because there is nothing to do. FAB (Friends Around Bryn) have had dealings with a crew on an estate nearby and we have asked them what is it they want to do. Believe it or not there are place to go to (yes yes i know we've nothing out of doors before you shout at me) And they want to go somewhere where they can drink! They dont want clubs, no-alcohol pubs nor youth clubs. Why? Because of rules and because no alcohol is allowed!

The other sad thing is that there aren't enough Police to govern this problem, we have no Park Rangers willing to work so late to 'keep an eye open', and, there are few people willing to take this up on a voluntary basis. There is a fine line here, and it's difficult to know where it is.

A residents group in Landgate tried but they were vilified in the press as being vigilantes! Poor folk, they were simply doing what the police wouldnt get involved in nor offer the support they needed. Due to 'lack of resources'.

Sadly, these days, there is very little respect or discipline and the Police have no control over such doings and these guys know this.

Much of this has to start at home, I dont believe that there are parents out there who have no idea what their kids are doing nor even allowing them to stay out so late at night.

If ever any of my kids were out and caught being up to no good I would like to know. Jeepers, I really hope they dont turn into teenagers - age 4 & 7 is bad enough !!!

Hi
Although I may disapprove of people drinking under age, I also disagree with giving them derogratary labels.

From talking to these young people what they do lack is parental discourse They are not short of material possessions, but they feel ignored by the world. So they resort to drinking alcohol. This may seem like a do-gooder excuse, but if there is a problem I think we have to look at the causes before we can find a solution and one is needed.

We live in an age of instant results, everything must be available straight away. I do not think we are going to wave a magic wand and this problem will go away, We may well not be affected and can choose to ignore it, but sooner or later it may affect us.

Another cause is television , none of the modern TV programmes feature people smoking, but look how many programmes feature drinking. I am not calling for prohibition but the same responsible attitude should be applied towards drinking as tobacco.

Adele highlighted the financial aspect, this can not be ignored, vast amounts of taxes are raised through the drink industry and most from UK industry, so there may well be a reluctance to seriously solve the problem. I know the government of the day come out with concerns about binge drinking etc , but are they really prepared to tackle it.
To compare continental drinking culture to our own, generally misses the fact that the majority of the bars on the continent are privately owned and the landlord execises greater control over his clientel, where as in Britain the majority are owned by large companies where the profit and loss play a much larger part.

I should be surprised that a Labour government has brought 24 hour drinking in, the deputy leader to Harold Wilson, George Brown is quoted as saying the “The Labour Party owes more to The Methodist Church than Karl Marks”. Perhaps as he liked a drink, he was not referring to The Temperance Movement.

I hope this had given you food for thought and I eagerly await other peoples thought on this important subject. .After all it does affect Ashton

Alan

Town: ajames46@fsmail.net