Most are in agreement that we can’t go on as we are and there is nothing more stronger to be said on ‘social responsibility’ or in far too many cases the lack of it.
Having spent another Friday night working with the police, to help stop underage drinking and in turn the antisocial behaviour that follows it, one thing that is absolutely clear is that while ‘social responsibility’ plays a significant role in dealing with most problems within our communities, it can only ‘deal with those problems’ when it has the full support of ‘the state’.
While it possibly is within social responsibility’s remit to see that those kids giving money to older albeit still under age teenagers are educated as to why it is wrong and the teenagers buying the alcohol for their peers to be educated about why it is wrong, ‘the state’ has to get involved when the ‘children’ refuse to listen.
Those sellers of the alcohol need not only to be fully aware of their ‘social responsibility’ they need to know that they are accountable to ‘the state’ and that if they do break the law that there will be significant and not little if any consequence for their actions.
Parents also need to know that if their child does cross paths with the authorities, that they have failed in their ‘social responsibility’ and they will be held to account for it.
Only when ‘social responsibility’ becomes the norm for all, not just the ‘civic-minded’, will society ever be the place that we all would want it to be.
The ‘civic-minded’ are not simply society’s moaners and whingers, they are the elderly hiding behind curtains shut through fear, the ‘normal folk’ who won’t go out after a certain time, the residents who get a decent night’s sleep because of their ‘neighbours’ actions and the child who takes the long walk home from school to avoid a handful of bullying morons.
The ‘civic-minded’ are the community and Labour should fight things like the ridiculous scrapping of antisocial behaviour orders whenever it has the opportunity.