I went to a conference today, and if the truth be known, because it’s so late in the academic year and there’s so much to do at school before we break up, I confess that I did not pay attention to the extent I could have (don’t tell anyone).  One thing I did hear, however, amidst all my frantic writing (not notes on what was being said, but items being added to my ‘to do’ list) was something I just wanted to reiterate on here.  I’m not sure why I feel I should, but I do, so there!  What he said was in relation to the way in which the youth of the country are being damned and cast aside as nothing more than a generation of gun toting, knife wielding, hoodie wearing hoodlums, when in fact the majority are nothing of the sort.  This was nothing new to me, and as a belief, is indeed something I am a huge subscriber to.  What made me smile in an ironic, ‘You’re totally right’ kind of way, was when he asked why the adult population believe that it is the children and youth of today who are responsible for the breakdown of society, when the three major disasters faced by us today (economic in the form of recession, religious in the form of modern day warfare and environmental in the guise of global warming) have all actually been caused by our generation and that of our parents.  It is in fact our children and teenagers who will have to try and sort out the messes we have made, and solve the crises that the world is currently facing.  Best we give them a break then.