if the city of jerusalem would set a 12:00 curfew for kids under 18 like there is in the states, raise the drinking age from 18 to 21 like it is in the states, i think you will see a sharp drop in the rise of homeless kids hanging out in Kikar Tzion, Kikar Chatulot, the Pit, the Underground, Etc... i belive with out a doubt that their numbers would drop. kids at risk that are still living at home see other kids that are not , hanging out drinking all day, it apeals to them, its just what they are looking for. so maybe its time to get the city to take some action and change some laws that would reduce the kids at risk

I yanked him back to Canada where its too friggin cold to bum around on the street. Of course you have the usual dregs out here in -25C sleeping in the street with their dogs, but thats the exception. Here in frozen Canada where the Bears fart in the woods and you';re either a Hockey Player or a street hooker, my son picked up hockey. He really didnt have a choice as his Dad, thats me wasnt going to take no shit from some "I wannabee a hoodlum from Israel" Well I'm glad to report he's doing ok. Nothing like living amongst the real goyim who will eat you for breakfast to straighten out some Jew. Yeah we all need a good kick in the ass from time to time. As for these kids on the street..they all need a swift kick up the ass. As for the North Americans out there who believe the BS that sending their kids to Israel will straighten them out. Get real! Get em back home take that teat out of their mouths.

It's the same here, in the USA, as there. Parents are hardening their hearts and only care for themselves and in turn the kids do the same. It's like parents and kids have lost the ability to talk to one another and to care for another besides themselves. Our societies are heading toward chaos and I largely blame the parents. Of course, there are some kids who just won't listen, who don't respond to love and affection, but for the majority that is all they want. Attention, love, affection. Something many people today, who are having children, seem to lack. We cannot legislate this problem away. It is a problem of the soul and with one remedy.

how many of them r settlers? we all know there r haredi kids living on streets cause they dont want to be haredi any longer--but what i want to know--how many modern religious zionist kids are among these pour lost souls? if i can guess...NONE! something for the secular society to think about-

Personally I think you are making a rather pathetic attempt at humour which definitely falls flat. I have never heard a Canadian that speaks in your colourful fashion. Tony Soprano maybe, but not a Canuck. Perhaps your vulgar, demeaning attitude reflected in your speech is why your child is/was having problems. If nothing else, I am sure your ignorance is an embarrassment to him. You can certainly be strict without sounding like you didn't make it past early grade school. Children learn from example.

i urge you to remember those of your co nationals who may have been the victims of roof fall as they, most patriotically, waited up stairs for ms hazel blears ( a proven member of new labour) to arrive for for her near hourly "appreciation of israeli physical culture".

Hi D, At 20 you ARE an adult!!!! At 18 I left home (did not run away) and at 20 I was post army and working, not making a lot, but you gotta start somewhere. Yes at 20 you ARE an adult, get your head out of your you know what, get a job, share a flat with 4 other people, and start going to school on your own dime (like I did) No one helped me even though I had loving parents, they let me make it on my own. Now I am a 29 year old success.....get cleaned up, take the first job you can and start living.

I make no claims to being a parenting "expert" but I think your solution lacks a few things. Do children need love, affection, and tenderness? Absoultely. However, they also need good examples, morality, and discipline. In Israel, as well as in America, people are largely devoted to themselves and their own pleasure (look into the abortion rates of each country). Society at large ridicules the idea of absolute truth and instead encourages children to define their own right and wrong based on their feelings, and the very concepts of discipline and serving other people rather than yourself are seen as anachronistic, ridiculous, or, worst of all, some sort of "fundamentalist religious" nonsense. The result? A self-aborbed, self-centered, materialistic, debauched culture that calls evil good and good evil. STD's run rampant, abortion is a "right" and celebrated, marriages almost never last, crime is practically fashionable, and our children learn morals from Hollywood. Are we satisfied at how open minded and progressive we have become?