Social problems are relative

Pamela Hansen (The Sunday Times, January 28) was wrong to seek solutions to her perceived anti- social behaviour problem from a UK-based Website.

We in Malta are lucky enough to regard barking dogs and noisy neighbours as anti-social behaviour. However, in reality this is really more a matter of noise pollution.

John Hunter, from a small village in England, regards pavement parking as his worst problem. He is lucky. Should he visit the tows of Weston-super-Mare or Bristol, some five miles and ten miles from his home, he will find a lot worse. I reprint an extract from the diary of a friend who has the misfortune to live in Bristol. This is true anti-social behaviour.

"I am a single mother of two girls, aged eight and 14. We live in an area where large numbers of children and youths run riot in the area. Stones are hurled at windows, fireworks lit and thrown into doorways, graffiti sprayed everywhere, and fires are lit against trees and doors.

"If we remonstrate with these youngsters, the response is a stream of foul-mouthed obscenities and threats. A boy of no more than 12 produced a kitchen knife and started waving it in the air, threatening to 'cut someone up'. This was an obvious danger, not only to those he threatened, but also to himself.

"Mini motor bikes (also known as pocket bikes) are ridden on the roads, pavements and communal gardens by children who wear no protective clothing or crash helmets. The bikes are not licensed for road use and are designed to be ridden only on privately-owned land, with the land owner's permission.

"I was recently pushed to the ground, and my weekly shopping was stolen by a gang of around ten youngsters whose average age was about 12. The threats and intimidation towards us and our neighbours is a daily occurrence and the authori-ties take no action against these anti-social hooligans.

These youngsters have no local sports or recreational facilities available to them. Their parents would appear to be decent folk, who are just unable to control them, and so close their eyes to the issue."

That is not to say that I disagree with Ms Hansen about the need for solutions to the problems we experience here, but let's make it relevant, shall we? We cannot - and should not - expect to find answers from a country far larger than ours that experiences relatively more serious threats to their quality of life.