And we have the brass neck to lecture *our* kids about responsible
behaviour
!! When I relate some of these tales of schoolboy pranks to my kids,
they
can't believe what a bad lot we were back then ... :-))

Simply repeating the common pattern of the last few thousand years, I
think. The younger generation is *always* reckless and irresponsible,
hell-bent on disaster, and disrespectful of the wisdom of their elders
(from the POV of the elders), and the elders are conservative
hypocritical stick-in-the-muds who have forgotten how to live and who
are obviously guilty for completely yngvi'ing up the world (from the
POV of the younger set).

It's been that way at least since Aristotle, and probably a whole lot
longer than that.

I suspect you speak the truth Dave ...

Sorry, but I disagree. The US has been on a downhill path ever since it
decided, after WWII, that children would rule this country.