What are parents supposed to do?

Parents who fail to stop their teenage children binge-drinking or ‘persistently possessing’ alcohol in town centres and streets face heavy fines, community service orders and even jail.

A new Government crackdown will target the parents of drunken, abusive youngsters who repeatedly defy attempts to stop them creating disorder in public places.

Under plans to be unveiled by a trio of Cabinet Ministers, the Government will pledge to create a new offence for under-18s of ‘persistently possessing alcohol in public areas’ and give police new powers to disperse them.

What are parents supposed to do exactly? The government has criminalised them from doing anything meaningful to their children. Children learn from an early age what type of discipline they can expect to receive from their parents and grounding isn’t going to do much.

Does the government seriously think an out of control teenager who regularly drinks and has fights is going to obey their parents because they get grounded? Tell them they are grounded and they will laugh in their parents faces and leave the house. The only thing that would stop them would be discipline from an early age and not the grounding type of discipline. I mean the smacking kind where the child knows that if he goes too far he can expect physical pain. Only then will they obey their parents.