As more and more is revealed about the involvement of teenagers and young adults in harmful and immoral activities perhaps it is time for us to take a look at ourselves. The Prime Minister worries about where we went wrong with our young people but maybe we should look at where our parents went wrong with us.

Children learn by example from their elders and looking at the state the world is in today we have certainly not set them a good example. Corruption, war, famine, even natural disasters, are the results of the activities of adults - greedy corporate leaders and power hungry politicians, not children or young people. And we expect our children to respect and listen to us.

No matter how much we get, we want more and many of us will do anything to get what we want. The difference between right and wrong has become very blurred. Politicians will incite hatred and fear using race and religion to stay in power. Many of the problems in different parts of the world are the work of leaders who pit the people against each other to stay in control.

Unfortunately people do not seem to realize this and become easily influenced by the rhetoric of unscrupulous religious or political leaders. At the end of the day these leaders do not lose anything, not their property, not their lives but it is the bodies of the people that is carried away, their homes that are burned down.

Intolerance, double standards, dishonesty and discrimination have become a way of life these days. We exhort our young to follow our religious teachings but how many of us practice what our religions teach us. How many of us do not take advantage of the weak, the poor and the helpless. Every day one reads of the father who rapes his own daughter, of the mother who abuses her child, young helpless children whom we are bound to protect and nurture. Can you imagine the kind of adults these abused children are going to grow up into?

Many children are left in the care of maids and baby sitters and older children are left to their own devices while parents are out either chasing more and more wealth or looking for newer and more gratifying pleasures. The sanctity of marriage and family is becoming less important. Parents watch pornographic movies in their homes with young children around.

Those parents who do spend time with their children end up being either overly indulgent or harsh, very rarely do they spend time to talk and listen to their children, the only way to know what they are doing, their line of thought and behaviour. We worry about our children getting into trouble and practicing immoral activities. We read of molestation, rape and violent crimes by children as young as seven and are horrified but do not look at where these children learn them.

When religion is used to instill morals it is usually done with hellfire and damnation, very rarely do religious leaders talk of love, understanding, tolerance or compassion. The adult who spouts about his or her religious uprightness is usually judgmental of others who do not follow his narrow and straight path, intolerant of people who think differently or may have a wider view.

Is it any wonder then that those who rebel are those who have been exposed to this restricted way of thinking. For any child to grow up into a normal, healthy person, with the right values, someone who will contribute to his or her country and community, that child has to be in an environment that sets the right example. So let's not go looking for someone somewhere to put the blame for the current situation, let's start cleaning up our act, let's begin with our values and our actions.