Professor Al Aynsley-Green (now Sir Al) loves his hoodie. I don't mean ayounger member of his family, I'm talking about his hooded top.
I've even seen pictures of him wearing it along with a baseball cap.
When I was a child, one of my favourite items of clothing was what wasknown then as a "hooded cardigan". It was black with white edges, and mymates all wore them too. I wore mine until it died.
Then in my late teenage Punkette Claire era, I had a striped jumper witha hood. In fact, come to think of it, I've worn hooded tops foryears.
But these days they've taken on other connotations. Apparently, bywearing the offending item, Al and I have been subliminally encouragingdisorder.
It'll be an anti-social behaviour order for us next, or we might evenget banned from our local shopping mall.
Or more worrying still, we could have David Cameron pursuing us to giveus a big squeeze in our fleece, or to "hug a hoodie" as the press sogleefully put it a couple of weeks ago.
It's enough to make you want to put your head in your hood. An item ofclothing is simply that. We've been throwing our hands up in horrorabout young people since the days of teddy boys, with their drainpipetrousers and ducktail haircuts.
What a missed opportunity to start a dialogue which could help dispelthe "feral" myths and to start addressing the exclusion that so manychildren experience in their lives.
Cameron was lauded by some children's charities but I can't help feelingthat the real point he was trying to make has yet again been drowned outin a media frenzy that loves scoring points off politicians but simplydoesn't care about children.
Let's put them side by side. A 12-year-old who has had a rough time, anda multi million pound industry with more power and influence than anygovernment. I wonder who has the power to be most anti-social?
