When did our Mischief Night become an excuse for young people to throw rocks and stones at windows, instead of eggs and balloons filled with random contents?

On the night of Sunday, November 4, aka "Mischief Night", my family's window was smashed by youths. I saw them running away.

After contacting the police we were told that there was a four-hour waiting list as trouble had spurred across Bradford that night.

This was no surprise as it was the day before Guy Fawkes Night, when there has always been widespread mischief.

This was the second time our windows had been vandalised in weeks. The trouble has been increasingly getting worse, more violent and more erratic.

The blame generally goes to gangs of youths, also generally branded as "chavs".

There are many groups of young people hanging around outside shops and on streets but it's not always the case that they're out to misbehave.

From what I have experienced from living in Allerton, the larger groups tend not to bother people, they just sometimes get a bit rowdy, sometimes even a bit drunk.

Many vandals come from small groups of around two or four very young kids who know they can get away with more as they may seem more innocent.

There are so many young people out there who are good-hearted and want to go places in life.

But because of how they may dress, where they "hang out" or how many other young people they congregate with, a generalised trouble-causers' stamp is thrown upon them.

As with all stereotypes and troublemakers, it is usually just a select few who tarnish the reputation of the good ones.

The majority of groups gather and linger because there is nothing really constructive for youths to do, nothing to challenge them in a productive and enjoyable way.

Life starts with the youth; life can only get better if the young are more seriously focussed on.

I am not saying that large groups won't get up to no good. After all, everyone is different and therefore nothing is predictable, it's just that there are lots of good people in our towns and cities who aren't taken seriously because of many factors.

These are merely my own opinions and understandings so if I have been misguided on anything I have said then I shall research further into it to gain a better understanding. I was young and hung around parks once, even then there was nothing for us to do.