Mal Fletcher comments

The second problem for liberalism is that it fails to recognize the nature of generational change. What we refuse to address in our people's problem behaviour, we indirectly condone - and what one generation tolerates, the next will often treat as normal.

In an age where non-medicinal cannabis is outlawed, we still have adults, including many in responsible positions of leadership, admitting that they experimented with cannabis in their youth.

In many ways, this kind of openness is healthy, provided it comes with a sense of regret. Sadly though, these admissions are often made with a nod and a wink, as if having done such things is a measure of a person's "cool" quotient.

What message are we sending to the next generation? If we've preached liberalism all our lives, and still celebrate it, why should we be shocked if some of our kids want to take it a step further than we did?

Most of us who are parents recognize that our kids learn more by watching us than listening to us. They pick up, as if by osmosis, our attitudes to various types of behaviour, including the use of drugs. They are, as we were, extremely sensitive when it comes to parents preaching one thing while doing another.

Of course none of us were perfect in our youth and, uncomfortable as it may be, we must face the risk that comes with giving discipline. All parental love is "tough love" to a degree.

It's tough for us because we may lay down laws we didn't always abide by ourselves, and because we know we may lose our childrens' affection for a while.

It's tough for our kids because it involves the setting of parameters, the laying down of restrictions, based on what is safe and healthy for the individual and for the family. And what is safe and healthy is linked with what we consider to be right, which is more than a product of context.

For a while now, we've wanted the benefits of conservative social values, while holding onto the so-called freedoms offered by liberalism. Sadly, though, these freedoms come at an awful price - a price that neither we, nor our children, nor our communities should have to pay.