BY the time I was five, I had been taught that fences meant keep out, someone else’s property.

If a ball was kicked into a garden, we were told to knock on the door and ask if we may have our ball back.

Should we have been unfortunate enough to have broken a window, this had to be owned up to and paid for out of very sparse pocket money, or by running errands for the owner.

We knew what was ours, and everything else belonged to someone else.

We weren’t angels, but if any adult spoke to us about our behaviour the first thing you thought was ‘oh I do hope you don’t tell my mum or dad.’ Today, parents say ‘oh well, we’re both working and haven’t time to train our kids in good behaviour.’ Rubbish! In mill towns, both parents often worked long hours.

Modern children are made the same way as ever. Only the parents have adopted a lazy attitude to discipline.

B J Dutton, Colne.