You'd think that a government passing an Age Discrimination bill for employers would understand that everyone should be treated without their age in mind, yet some in Parliament have commended the use of "Mosquitos" to disperse youths from areas by sending out a high pitched sound that only those under the age of 25 can hear.

With it being talked about in the commons it is of course to be expected that video games and the massive corrupting influence they supposedly have on us all would start to be talked about more over the next few weeks and months, unfortunately it is a Liberal Democrat that appears to be the first to miss the point. It's not that I necessarily disagree with Andy's main sentiments that completely putting video games under the purview of the BBFC is necessarily a step in the wrong direction, but I can't actually see any evidence that it is a step in any direction at all.

If you were to believe everything you read in today's news about Jacqui Smith's railing against families and youths that don't do enough to curb under-age drinking then you'd think that families are to blame for mass under-age drinking and that under-age drinkers are all yobs causing chaos and destruction. My first instinct was that the nature of the statements she's making show a lot of ambiguity and potential here for some kind of spin. So let's look in to this report and what she's said, from the Times...

A "tipping point" has been reached where more 13-year-olds in Britain have drunk alcohol than those who have not, the Home Secretary said yesterday.

Today Newsbeat on Radio 1 has rekindled the never ending issue about raising the minimum age for consumption of alcohol to 21, staying pretty much in line with previous BBC hosted polls that put the population as being half in favour and half not for the changes. This issue is a particular bugbear of mine, not only with drinking but also with the age of sexual consent and entertainment certification as more than a guideline. As someone who believes in personal liberties I find it discomforting that I should be viewed in the same light as the rest of the population my age and assessed in a generalised manner as to what I can personally deal with; I like to think that kids actually affected by these legal limits feel somewhat the same.

This isn't to say that I don't understand the need for basic levels of protection, to protect rebellious children from themselves if their parents are unable to give them the supervision and guidance they require, however to try and claim that arbitrary age limits on performing certain actions are successful in that task, I feel, is naive and short sighted.

In this article:

• Alcohol limits
• Teen pregnancy and age of consent limits
• Why limits don't make sense