Dismayed by dusk till dawn application

These are a regular feature of every weekend night in the Radford Road, and that’s OK. People can have fun. What does disturb me, though, is that this extends the anxiety of so many parents of teenagers who are out on the town, exploring their own experiments with more alcohol than they are able to deal with, and whether the council, police, publicans and other figures of authority want to deny it or not, a huge number of them are underage, gaining access to clubs with false ID. I know, because I work with a couple of hundred such young people each week, and have children of my own.

I, as I imagine other parents have done, have carefully looked after my son throughout his school years; taking him to and from the school bus, and I’ve never booked a babysitter, so that I can always be there for him. But then suddenly, at the age of 17, you go from that dedicated, willingly given duty of care, to being forced by social and peer pressure to allow him out into the night, for hours and hours on end, drinking, wandering between venues, to who knows where. Anything could happen to them. If these nightclubs were not open to dawn, they would be encouraged to come home. I’m a fairly strict parent, but I can’t stop him. I’d love to know how/if other parents manage it.

We have seen so many examples of young people going off the rails this year on the news and in documentaries. Why do councils think it’s such a good idea to have people out carousing ALL night. Perhaps they are amongst the carousers? Does this promote a focused workforce? Does this help young people concentrate on their studies? How do parents ever sleep at night whilst their children are still wandering the streets? I seem to sleep less now than when my son was a baby.

I am so frustrated that social pressure so defiantly goes against good, safe parenting and the development of strong social standards. - Name and address supplied.