I read Mr P Fenech's opinion `Throwing the Night Away' (TMI 25 August 1999) wherein he states the (entertainment) regulations are intrinsically flawed not only because they restrict personal freedom…but because they fail to take into consideration social patterns. Furthermore I draw from Mr D Kelleher front page article titled Despite government giving in, GRTU still feels 4am is too early (TMI 28 August 1999).

Is this country (Government and GRTU included) going ga-ga in the head. Will binge-boozing till 4am become the established norm in the land? Is this an innovative perception of freedom, is this in keeping with modern social patterns?

In the face of all this, how are today's parents going to regulate their dependants if the norm becomes standard practice? Do you know how many cute grandchildren your youngsters can whip up to 4am after drinking away their inhibitions.

It is my contention that our youth culture is becoming increasingly and dangerously vitiated by the unrealistic excesses of these `till death do us party' ethics. Today's youths grew up within the relative sanctuary of the family home due to increased dangers lurking outside.

This has resulted in our youngsters having bonded with fewer people, all of whom emanating from the same social background. In addition, prolonged exposure to television has confined many individuals from childhood onwards to an onslaught of platitudes, clichés, distractions that have impaired their realistic vision of the outside world.

For these reasons, I think that our youngsters are becoming increasingly susceptible to peer pressure, not very street-wise, and have an unrealistic vision of the world, as distorted by TV caricature.

Look at them. So great was the childhood isolation that most of them cannot even communicate in the language of the land that they have lived in.

They would much rather go stark naked or bare-footed than wear non-designer clothing or footwear; go thirsty rather than be seen without a bottle of foreign beer in the hand. Most of them probably seek refuge in venues with mind-blowing sound to dispense with the hasstle of conducting structured conversation with their peers.

It is also disheartening to note the widening of the generation gap. In the old days, we were all frightened witless of our parents. At least, in our dire fear, we considered their advice and restrained ourselves in fear of their reaction.

In most young minds, mums and dads are intellectual nonentities because they cannot use the PC except for word-processing and boggled senseless by the pre-set program button on the video zapper. Parents are now relegated to the status of custodians with whom most kids strike liberal agreements to come and go as they please.

Any `open' parent thinking that his trustworthy up-and-coming youngster is fully adorned to handle the Maltese night scene has rocks in the head and potentially heading for a cruel surprise. Parents are advised to check out the scenes for themselves before ferrying their precious offspring to and fro that mayhem. Please stop thinking forthwith that bad apples are the result of family dysfunction.

Whilst it is the parents' prerogative to run their families as they please. It is the duty of Government to regulate stringently outside the confines of the family home.

This country does not deserve this. After all, as the GRTU itself said in Newstring 30^th July 1999, Young people need to socialise and it is in our very best interest to give them a safe environment for their enjoyment. If we can make the environment safer for them with regulation, then, let's regulate in their very best interest. Furthermore, let us impose stringent safety and age-restrictions found in civilised countries.

After all the social heart-rendering hog-wash drummed up by our Government and GRTU to protect the family from the ravages of Sunday Trading, they have are now setting the scene for our youths to blow away their brains on Saturday night , spend the entirety of Sunday unconscious to wake up totally hung-up and plasterer some time, Monday. Is this social?

We have to look after our young people; they are our future. They will need a full mental capacity when they take over the helm of the country to decipher the gargantuan mess inherited from us.

In the face of all this, I ask: is Government running the show or is it being led up the garden path?

The new Millennium of Christianity…….what a joke!

Malcolm Caire