If people in Britain have been complaining for generations that their youth, or “yoof” in your apt spelling, is going from bad to worse, this does not mean that they have been wrong all along, as you seem to argue (“The Perils of Privacy,” August 18, 2007). This is a logical fallacy of quite some vintage, too. Indeed, it is entirely possible that the youth is getting worse from generation to generation. In my fourteen years in central Reading in Berkshire, there was no doubt that a steady deterioration was taking place. When I arrived in 1990, grownups often reprimanded the wayward youth; by the time I left in 2003, this became unimaginable for fear of violent reaction. As far as I can gather from friends and acquaintances who still remain in Reading, things are steadily getting worse. The problem of “yoof” in Britain is a serious one, and it undoubtedly requires a serious response from all concerned. Including you.