There are many reasons for the mob running riot in London and other UK cities. It is easy to say for those of us not at the bottom of the pile "blame the parents". There is some truth in that particular viewpoint, but does it really account for those who were caught up in the looting and were in fact employed, came from a good family background. Perhaps if we strip out the minority who one could refer to as systematic opportunists who risked reputation, future and present employment prospects and being caught.
This leaves the rest as a core problem.
The core problem is a mix of both white and ethnic races and they both carry the same set of what I would call genetic failures. They come from homes where there is unemployment and income is based on social benefits. These adolescents are poorly educated, lack acceptable social skills, have little skills for employment and have effectively been swept under the carpet by successive governments of all political colours. The problem basically is embarrassing, not been robustly addressed and even when economic times where good, no sustained investment in training or resolving the problem was really attempted.
For a wealthy country in the UK, this I am afraid is a reflection on the inherent self serving greed, short sightedness and unwillingness to accept the problem. Once we accept responsibility as a country for the problem, then and only then can we start to correct it.
The full force of the law is the easy way out and does nothing to change the cause it only addresses the effects. Society as a whole has avoided meeting out justice in the case of those who have contributed to the destruction of the economies of the world; the speculators, merchant bankers, the issuers of worthless paper, the International Corporations and their wealthy clients and owners who offshore investments to avoid paying their contributions. Together with politicians’ involved in expense scandals, phone tapping and secretive meetings with newspaper barons the underprivileged have been somewhat restrained in their reaction to common thievery by their so called betters.
What have we offered youth today as examples of good manners, morals and good character? Overpaid drug taking celebrities, footballers with the morals of the farmyard, corrupt police officers accepting bribes, politicians fiddling their expenses.
Is it any wonder then that the young follow are example.
The government of today must take its share of the blame, destroying jobs in either the public or private sector to ensure the continued greed and malpractice of the wealthy financial institutions is not the way forward. For an economy to work in the interests of its citizens, it must have equitable policies that are good for all. It has a duty to provide the education and support for the less privileged even if it means increasing taxation for the wealthy. Then and only then can we be considered to be a civilised society, failure to accept this fact will lead to far more civil unrest and anarchy.

Hopefully their pain can come and speak in your immediate vicinity.

This is not the first time rioting has occurred and nor will it be the last. Placing the blame at the government's feet is ridiculous. These kids should be staying in school and trying to make something of themselves; not descending into hooliganism. Fortunately for them, they are living in a joke of a society that seemingly doesn't believe in law and order. If that happened in Northern Ireland or the United States, those kids that are looting would be 6ft under where they belong with bullets riddling their corpses and the rioters black and blue from the riot police.