As a 16-year-old myself I happen to agree that many teenagers my age can be vile and agressive. I, however, place the blame for this entirely on the doorstep of their parents and the ridiculously politically correct society in which we live, where almost all manners of effective discipline have been removed. I also find it extremely upsetting that as a teenager me and my well mannered friends, all of whom would give up their seats on a bus for elderly people or stop to help someone in need, are treated as if we are to be avoided and labelled teenage thugs. I have often tried to start conversations with older people on buses about local issues or even just the weather but usually either get completely ignored or a look from them as if I have done something wrong by talking to them. Paul Russell, Warwick

I feel safe living in China, despite the teeming millions of people. I have yet to see a gang of yobs similar to those which seem to frequent so many streets in London. I have never felt threatened .. despite being the intended victim of theft. Of course there is crime, I live in a massive city which is far bigger than London, but young people's behaviour is generally of a much higher standard than in England. Society has taken a turn for the worse in England and the young are a part of that. Perhaps China just lags behind a few years. I hope they never catch up. Rodd Morgan, Guangzhou, China

That girls are getting worse is only an inevitable consequence of their new equality with boys. You can't give girls the same freedoms and moral codes as boys without expecting them to behave, to a certain extent, as boys always have. Marianne Park, Cambridge

My 18 year old son is rude,arrogant and lazy but thinks he is wonderful. He is the image of me at the same age. I grew up so will he. David Lee, Salford

As a first-year undergraduate at Durham University, I am obviously lucky in receiving some of the best education in the UK, and furthermore, my fellow students must be some of the brightest around; it's safe to say that in my college, probably less than ten people smoke, I have never seen a trace of any drugs and there are certainly no gangs of hooded, abusive teenagers here. Yet every time I return home I am shocked at the increasing numbers of teenagers lingering on street corners with nothing to do, apart from kicking footballs at bus stops and shouting insults as you go by. My point is this – surely articles like "Slugs and snails? Not today's boys" are rather generalised, as are most of the comments in this debate? Surely it is unfair to categorise teenagers into two camps of either good or bad, and in fact the real picture across the UK is much more garbled and diverse – as it always has been? Does it not depend on education, the families that teenagers grow up with, the friendships they form, the area they live, the opportunities (or lack of) that they can take on, and the challenges in today’s media-frenzied society that they might face? I certainly find the media portrayals of all young people in the UK as being abusive, bullying and aggressive as highly offensive – it has definitely never been a part of my life, something that I give full credit for to my parents. Yet I realise that abusive groups of teenagers do exist, and indeed that their behaviour is becoming increasingly and unnecessarily atrocious. But please - don’t judge us depending on just one good, or indeed one extremely miserable encounter concerning a few teenagers that you may have experienced. Jennifer Coxon, Durham

In the course of my studies at university I found a letter to a newspaper dated 1909 complaining about gangs of young people drinking at local parks. Things never change. In some ways, nowadays, the problem is self-perpetuating. When I lived in London people moaned about the number of young people on the streets but then blocked every attempt at providing them with things to do, even when these were privately funded schemes. Simon Parker, Coventry

It seems significant that the people complaining are the ones who are no longer young. It is easy to blame all society's ills on young people, and perhaps the reason some (but far from the majority) are badly behaved is because our aging population hates youth at the same time as pursuing it relentlessly. I find the idea that we are inarticulate, violent, abusive, foul-mouthed and immoral deeply offensive and wildly inaccurate. Most of the everyday rudeness I experience is from older people, and yet no one seems to think that unreasonable or cause for concern. Pot and kettle, I'm afraid. Lucy Longhurst, Oxford

All I would say is that anyone who still thinks the average teenager is redeemable has yet to take a walk through any one of innumerable town centres or inner city estates at night. Pontificating from the sidelines is easy. Try taking the walk. Helen James, London

A number of contributors to the debate on teenage behaviour have used the term "the youth of today" as a central tenet to their argument. While I believe that some teenagers in today's society are very hostile and do act in ways that would be viewed as antisocial by many, there are also those who fit the more desirable criteria. Many are indeed well mannered, take on high degrees of responsibility and are currently, or will be in the future, an asset and valuable contributor to society. It could be that teenagers are more rapacious and disruptive in today's world due to corruptive media influences, but also that we as a society value individuality and uniqueness, allowing people to exercise choice and flexibility in their own lives. Such "individuality and choice" may mean that some choose to be destructive (and these we should help), others on the other hand constructive (and these we should applaud), but wide-ranging generalisations and stereotypes will not solve problems. It is therefore specific individuals and their activities that should be targeted. Marcin Roth, London