I’m not jumpy when it comes to people having fun. On the contrary, I have no problem whatsoever that young people socialise till kingdom come, if they so wish. So what am I uneasy about?

Well, part of the joys of parenthood is the unenviable role of driving children from private lessons, to basketball training sessions, to gymnastic classes, to sleepovers. (No, my argument won’t go down the crazy traffic congestions my wife and myself have to bear with day in, day out.)

As you can imagine, my son’s favourite drop-off point is Paceville, the land of fun, the city of entertainment, the Mecca of merriment and jollity.

When I drop him off or pick him up in the early hours of the day I just can’t stop thinking how uproarious and enjoyable it is to be young these days. The clubs, the parties, the music, the freedom, the exchanges with young people from other countries, the alcohol, the technology…

In the wider scheme of things I really have no problem with Paceville.

But let’s call a spade a spade: the situation is not all fine and dandy and, like most parents, I do get a sense of uneasiness with some of the things happening in the land of milk and honey.

I have a number of concerns about the high living in Paceville.

Firstly, there’s a massive issue of security or, should I say, lack of it.

Considering the amount of people who assemble there, the lack of safety is simply mind-blowing, ranging from non-existent first aid posts to no paramedics on the spot, from overlooked evacuation plans to a lack of detectable assembly points, from no fire hydrants to frenzied traffic mismanagement (for a change), from bad lighting and loads of black dodgy spots to a lack of CCTV cameras, from drink-driving galore to a somewhat minute police-to-population ratio. Do I need to go on?

Then we have the aggression of a good number of bouncers. These inflated big heads think they have a God-given right to beat people half their size. I was told by a group of students some days back they saw a bouncer hitting a young man on the ground for no reason at all. Deplorably, this is a recurring scene.

Shame on them. This is nothing less than sanctioned bullying.

Alcohol consumption is sold indiscriminately to minors, still below drinking age, and the police appear unable to manage this abuse. To say the truth, I’m not really convinced the police are really interested in clamping down on these illegalities. This needs to stop.

We just cannot have any more children buying alcohol without any control whatsoever. I have seen with my own eyes one or two shops in Paceville selling alcohol to children as if they are buying Love Hearts.

Needless to say, this issue needs to be nipped in the bud. It’s a racket out there. Children are not even being asked whether they have an adult’s permission to go about purchasing alcohol, let alone being stopped from doing so.

Parents must stand up and be counted

Another major issue is hygiene. There are very few toilets, if any, and people end up using the church parvis, gardens and people’s doorsteps when nature calls. This is a ridiculous situation when we know what a high volume of people frequent Paceville over the weekend.

Then there is the sexuality aspect. Naturally, it’s a highly-sexualised setting and I would be at ease if this were to be in line with age appropriateness. My only issue is the strange and dangerous intermingling of people of different ages. This verges on the pestering and ineptness, which are worrying.

One other complaint I have is the prices people are made to pay. The anarchy and the blood suckers who make money out of our children are simply mind-blowing.

The costs are ridiculous and the exploitation is truly audacious.

Paceville does not need to cease to exist; neither do the clubs or the other components. All we need to do is to flush out the abusers, that part of the business community that is solely interested in making money and succeeding even if that means trampling on our children.

I call on all parents to come forward, stand up and be counted.

If we do not step up our efforts, together with politicians, policymakers and the community operators, we will be sitting on a time bomb.

As parents we need to go for the jugular when dealing with all mistreating our children: traffickers, abusers, those who children as if they do not have a soul.

Otherwise, I’m good!

Andrew Azzopardi is senior lecturer at the university’s department of youth and community studies.

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