Your correspondents on the topic of young people's behaviour have some facts wrong. There is not a 'no smacking' law.

Social services have no powers to make any law. There has to be something a lot more than smacking for a social worker to act.

National Service was not an integral, or even long-standing, feature of British life.

It was a short-term measure, involving those age groups born over a period of 12 or 13 years, so its absence can hardly be the cause of society's problems.

Its purpose was to maintain the forces at the numerical strength then thought necessary.

To reintroduce it would create a far larger army than anyone wants.

Also, the 'yobs' are unlikely to come anywhere near the standard which the modern Army requires.

We do not have an army for the purpose of correcting or preventing criminal behaviour.

No-one has ever produced a shred of evidence to suggest that time spent in the forces does this anyway. I have known many men who have been in the forces and many (of the same generations) who were not.

While there are variations in both groups, my experience has been that, in the main, the 'non-forces' group have been the better men.

SHEILA CUSS Newland Witneyo