REGARDING 'When a man's not a man' (Letters, April 6), this mother has the same problem as many parents - pure tunnel vision.

First she is 100 per cent correct to say that it is not acceptable for obscene and abusive language to be aimed at anyone, let alone a small child.

But, in the same vein, she has to accept 100 per cent responsibility for her child's actions.

The child should not have been running down the ramp outside Darwen Leisure Centre. Is it not purely for access and exit to and from the place?

Allowing the child to run down the ramp could have resulted in a much worse conclusion by the child, perhaps running into the path of a car. But, then again, the motorist would no doubt be to blame for being on the road in the first place.

Yes, they do say children learn by example - so why not set some and stop trying to be victims all the time.

NEIL CLARK, Livesey Branch Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.