There is much justifiable concern in Japan and Britain about rising levels of crime and bad behavior, especially among young people. The responses have been varied, including the usual calls for heavier punishments combined with "zero tolerance" policing. Yet few have much idea how this is to be enforced without a reversion to old-fashioned and now generally unacceptable measures.
The answers must be sought in the attitudes prevailing in the home, in schools and in society. An important element must be the teaching of ethical behavior and, of course, the setting of good examples by older people who can, and often do, behave selfishly -- although this is much easier said than done.
In Britain, it is said, one in three men under 30 have been involved in criminal behavior at one time or another. The appalling behavior of British football hooligans has become a matter of national shame, although it has to be said that the nationals of other European countries have also been involved in some nasty incidents. One of the worst features of British hooligans has been the shouting of antiforeign and chauvinistic slogans, demonstrating once again that many British people have yet to grow into Europeans and overcome their isolationist island mentality.