We’ve all been young and for many of us, it passes all too quickly to a very distant memory, relegated to dusty photographs in an old dusty suitcase in the attic.

At the weekend, young people cycled through the centre of Worcester to defend their right to be young, to cycle, to enjoy their youth uninterrupted.

I was proud of them.

They were reacting against the recent public criticism from some readers of the Worcester News of young cyclists being antisocial in the area.

The ride out was peaceful and the majority of the cyclists seemed to stick to the rules of the road as around 50 riders formed a peloton going on an unspecified route.

Car drivers kept a respectful distance.

Members of the public often criticise teenagers for staying in playing too many computer games, being lazy et cetera.

But what people that criticise are really doing is projecting their own issues onto others in perfect psychology textbook fashion.

It happens with immigration, the unemployed and those members of our community with a disability.

It is always 'the 'other'.

It happened to my grandparents when they left the Republic of Ireland to look for work in the UK in the 1950s.

They were treated as somehow sub human.

At this moment in time, it is young people that are getting flack.

Yes, I understand some readers have been upset with ‘wheelies’ being pulled through the pedestrianised areas and rightly so as it could result in an accident.

But, we need to keep the antisocial acts of a a few from being used as paint for broad brush strokes over a whole group of young people.

We’ve all been young and for many of us, it passes all to quickly to a very distant memory that will remain locked in dusty photographs in an old suitcase.

As a community, we all need to tolerate differences.

The neighbour playing music just that little bit loud, the person that cuts you up in traffic and the cyclist that winds you up.

Be like a mirror: reflect everything but hold nothing.