Noel Tonna (February 10) has my sincere sympathy and thanks for raising such an important subject. In other countries such unruly behaviour has often ended in serious rioting and cold-blooded murder - sometimes just for fun! Such conduct must be stopped immediately and punished severely.

Severe punishment of youths in our country is, quite rightly, taken very seriously. May I suggest a new way that could be very effective in dealing with this difficult subject.

We have a very efficient armed force, well disciplined and performing all its duties very efficiently. Perhaps it would be possible for youths (male and female) found guilty in court of serious misbehaviour to spend their sentence with the AFM. They could wear fatigue clothing with yellow patches and employed mainly on cleaning duties except for periods of sports. Naturally, the AFM budget would have to be adjusted accordingly.

I think it is worth considering.