I am completely out of touch with the yoof of today. This isn't surprising: I know very few teenagers and those I do, tend to be too monosyllabic to convey their thoughts. Sarah reckons I would like Kings of Leon yet hasn't seen fit to buy me an album and I can't remember hearing any of their music. One of my colleagues is Pixie Lott's cousin and provides frequent updates on her burgeoning career but again I've no idea what she sounds like. It's 20 years since I made crude tapes of the Top 40 with Bruno Brookes and then Mark Goodier, tried to predict who would be where, failed to understand why my peers bought Stock Aitken and Waterman songs, and longed for Erasure to be run over by a bus. At least with the current phase of reunion tours I recognise some of the names, although I doubt many of them have any credibility to those aged around 15. Music is only one aspect. I also don't understand why most boys' trousers fall down all the time and couldn't tell the difference between a goth and an emo, or why R-Patz is the hunk of the season rather than Zac Efron.
Thankfully my sons are a few years away from teenagehood, which gives me time to familiarise myself with current trends, before they pass me by in a blur.
There are times though when I'm glad not to understand the world of the young. The tragic story of Shakilus Townsend, whose killers were sentenced yesterday, was one example. Another day, another knife murder - but maybe not. Shakilus Townsend wasn't as innocent as some victims - he was a young offender - but he died because he had a crush on a gang leader's girlfriend. According to the BBC, she felt used by the gangster and led Shakilus on. He paid her attention and offered her gifts. He warned her she was in danger because her boyfriend was angry. And then this girl of 15, presented with a choice, sided with the villain and lured the nice guy into a trap which cost him his life. It's a strange world where being kind and friendly, without it seems any return, is valued less than a knife and an orange dress code.
I do worry at time what kind of a life my boys will grow up into. Knife crime isn't prevalent in Wigmore - or even in the Medway Towns in general - but who knows what the menace will be in 10 years' time. Today I read Shakilus's mother gave birth at 17, which probably seemed like a good idea at the time, with no idea of the "madness" that lay around the corner. What kind of a life did she anticipate her son would have? Certainly not one that ended as it did.
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