YOUTH issues are never far away from the columns of newspapers. It's an undeniable fact of life that negative news tends to create big headlines while the positive can sometimes be overshadowed.

Teenagers are not easy, as any parent will tell you. It's a time of hormonal turmoil, doubts, and above all, having to learn the ropes of life. Sadly, some youngsters do go off the rails.

But not all kids are trouble, despite the understandable preconceptions of older people.

And that's why this newspaper salutes the moral courage of policeman Christopher Allen who has spoken in favour of creating more youth shelters across Worcester.

This is a courageous step. Many people are highly critical of the police. Some say that not enough is being done to combat the louts and vandals who make a misery of so many lives.

Nevertheless, we must accept that there are many decent youngsters in our midst. And also bear in mind that some adults suffer from an amnesia that obliterates their own adolescence.

To those individuals we would refer them back to the days of - in descending order - punks, mods, rockers and teddy boys.

Can anyone, hand-on-heart, truly claim that they never had the urge to gather in gangs or hang about on street corners?

Sergeant Allen may get some flak over this. But at least he has come up with what may be a partial solution to the occasional problems associated with people who will one day be the citizens of this nation.