june, 4 months [Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment.]

It's reassuring to know other people are feeling the same as me, but what does that say for the state of Britain today? Since I posted that blog another teenager has been stabbed to death just 20 minutes from where I live and five men were stabbed in our local pub. All this in a so called nice area. It's all very well for the government to keep saying how bad this is but what are they actually going to do about it that will make a difference? I reckon they should start with revoking the 24 hour drinking licences that some pubs have. What right do they have to ignore the police, paramedics and hospitals who are all telling them about the enormous volume of drink related crimes and injuries they have to deal with? And then I'm all for zero tolerance on our streets. I'm sure there will be plenty of people who argue against that because of ' human rights' but what about my kids human rights to be safe when they're out and about? As a mum who's scared for her kids I want my voice to be heard and I want to do something make changes happen but what? Anyone got any ideas?

Adam Pancutt, 5 months [Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment.]

I wasn't allowed to go out by myself until I was 16 and even then I had to be home by 8, I think that parents should let children go out earlier as because of this I am slightly scared of the dark now.

Hannah, 5 months [Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment.]

I think there is more peer pressure than years ago, I still believe there are only a handful of "bad" children, but there influence is strong, and maybe a child would join a "gang" to "fit-in" rather than being a target. I teach my children to stand up for themselves in situations, but today's Britain really troubles me, growing population, leads to growing problems, I can't see it becoming any better in the future for my three children.

Nina Kang, 5 months [Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment.]

I agree that it feels like a scarier world out there but I think it might be because of the media we have access to these days - everything is publicised a lot more than it used to. There is more traffic on the roads though. I thought twice about letting my 9 year old go to the swings round the corner from our house with a couple of girls who are older than her the other week. I know just how you feel but I would rather my kids felt suffocated than neglected.

Kathie Jones, 5 months [Offensive? Unsuitable? Report this comment.]

I know how you feel though my son is 15. Last week he asked if he could go into town and come home at 9. As you say there comes a time when you can't wrap them up in cotten wool so i let him go.When it got to 7.30 i felt sick, 8.30 i couldn.t stop looking at the clock and literally counting the minutes til 9.When i saw him coming down the road i felt i couldn't let him see i had been watching out for him so i pretended i hadn'tnoticed the time.We live in a small fairly quiet town where fortunately we don't have a problem with violent crime yet i was stilll scared. What do i do when he wants to go further afield and how old does he have to be before i stop worrying about him