David Broughton (Letters, June 14) echoes my thoughts on violence in society and those of many others.

The problem lies with do-gooders who have plagued society for a decade or more.

Too many rights are given to yobs and teenagers, which lets them hide from justice by claiming "you cannot touch me". This mentality, which this country seems to breed, is like a disease in the DNA of the nation.

We have bowed to the pious do-gooders and their wet, Sunday-school views for too long.

Birching and the death penalty? Definitely. To this, I would add two or three years' compulsory National Service for teenagers.

Although tests of real moral and mental courage are, no doubt, beyond the limited horizons of the oiks who plague society.

-Anthony Arundell, Kingsway, Hove