In a culture where everything is illegal shame takes a holiday.
A case in point is the United Kingdom where society’s caretakers are worried that young people are shrugging off "anti-social behaviour orders," citations for miscreancy, commonly called ASBOS. Indeed, in some circles and particularly amongst youth, gaining an ASBOS has come to be seen as a right of passage and a badge of honor. Introduced in Great Britain in 1998, the application of ASBOS has since been legislatively widened, in what appears a futile attempt to get the kids to behave themselves. Critics claim that the legislation is backfiring by encouraging young people to treat an ASBOS citation as a proof of healthy (and very "cool") rebelliousness.
Certainly in today’s England where all sorts of behavior, such as smoking a cigarette, are now considered "anti-social" it has become almost impossible not to attract the attention of authorities, who spend more time cracking down on minor miscreants, than in providing kids the proper tools to become thoughtful and responsible adults. When "smoking in the boys’ room" is considered as grave an offense as shattering a school window, inevitably, confusion and amorality reign. When everything is "bad," nothing is bad. Loutish behavior, rampant in the United Kingdom, is the result of "zero tolerance" gone mad. Expect the rulers to continue their assault on behavior rather than treat their subjects with the respect that once defined this one-time bastion of liberty.
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