But people! Today Tonight said we have an epidemic! The youths are out of control and elderly people with kittens are worried!

Old people! Kittens! Worried! Yoof!

Oops. I think I got locked into the soundbite mindset. RAGING TEENS! Egad, there it is again. I'll have to get this checked out.

What also needs to be considered, is the fact that the media is more encompassing these days, and their favourite subject is often drunk teenagers.

The thing is, drunk teenagers are nothing new. I bet the Romans had similar problems with their orgies. Either that, or it was just the old people, who actually vomited on purpose so they could get more food and wine into them.

I also know plenty of people who hit the night scene. By and large, it's pretty easy to spot fights and avoid them. It's mostly the obnoxious types who are spoiling for them who get into them.

All that being said, ice is a pretty nasty drug and can be responsible for some pretty brutal violence.

Though that being said - again, when they talk about the ice 'epidemic', bear in mind that they're really keen for that all important soundbite. "Raging ice addicts! Scared old people!"

"Kittens!"

My favourite is the "BINGE DRINKING CRISIS!"

Hell, I have been a 'binge drinker' all my life, as well as absolutley everyone I know, including my parents, who also liked to have a few drinks on the weekend when they were young. Word is my grandparents even had a drink or two as well! Scandalous!

It really really must be the end of civilisation...

DEMOS blames 'but the fundamental problem is 1,000,000 years of evolution.'

To a large extent I blame secular humanism and its supporters which has caused the demise of the family unit by encouraging promiscuity, selfishness, unfaithfulness and a rebellious attitude towards all authority (including God). Blind Freddy can see that the 'no smack' philosophy has helped the increased the amount of violence, rape and general rebellion.

We now have masses of people who are hysterical about the environment and these people but turn out to be among the most violent and rebellious. Thankfully the bible foretold of these days so we should not be surprised. He are reaping what the secular humanist and the rebellious heart of man has sown.

"RUN FOR THE HILLS PEOPLE! RUN FOR THE HILLS!"

Don't be silly Vanilla. The hills used to be alive with the sound of music, but now they're alive with feral varmints, serial killers and secular humanists.

Unless the whole staff of A Current Affair are put in charge of the country right now we'll all be rooned, hills, plains and seaside settings alike.

TRTL: "The thing is, drunk teenagers are nothing new. I bet the Romans had similar problems with their orgies."

Have you ever read Satyricon? The rollicking adventures of a group of p!ssed 16-year-olds. It's unnervingly familiar. "Then I fell over backwards. Then all my friends laughed their heads off." & etc etc.

Gangs of out-of-control youths have been a target of the oldies throughout history. The end of civilisation has been expected in every age. Environmenal disaster predicted regularly throughout the centuries. We're always on the brink of extinction. Except *really*, this time.

Runner: "Blind Freddy can see that the 'no smack' philosophy has helped the increased the amount of violence, rape and general rebellion."

I don't know what I find funnier about this. The idea that not smacking children makes them rapists, or the idea that the idea itself should be blindingly obvious. Either way, as a lass who was never spanked, I'm off to rape someone, then orchestrate a violent overthrow of the state.

Unless you meant smack as in heroin? Which does tend to keep kids fairly subdued.