WITH so much attention on anti-social behaviour, it is easy to generalise about the younger generation.

The Prime Minister's post-election announcement of a fresh drive to promote greater discipline among young people coincided with the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent banning hooded tops, baseball caps and swearing.

Meanwhile, here in the North-East, the Chief Constable of Northumbria Police Mike Craik has instructed his force to break up groups of more than two teenagers at a shopping centre in Cramlington.

But while we agree that yobbish behaviour needs to be stamped on - starting with better parenting - we should also not forget that the vast majority of young people are not thugs but decent human beings.

And we should also remember the value of effective youth services in our communities.

It is therefore a clear cause of concern that Ofsted has concluded that youth provision in Darlington is inadequate.

The council promises that improvements are already being made as a result of the criticisms.

But the report comes at a time when a debate is taking place in the town following the recent deaths of two teenage boys killed on a local railway line where crowds of youngsters gather, arguing that they have nowhere else to go.

The urgency of that debate is underlined in the light of today's Ofsted report and it would be wrong not to listen carefully to what is being said.