Last Saturday I walked down Bakers Lane in Lingfield to examine the back windows of six or more cars that had been smashed in the night before. I met local residents who had become victims of this stupid violence. Understandably they were very unhappy at being faced with the cost of getting their vehicles repaired, dealing with insurance claims, and the general hassle of sorting out the mess.

The police are still looking for whoever did this crime. I hope they find and prosecute them. Given that nothing was stolen from the cars, there can hardly have been a financial motive for the vandalism. It was vandalism for its own sake. And, in its odd way, that is more disturbing than theft.

This incident was typical of the so-called ‘petty’ crime that blights our daily quality of life. Smashed up cars, graffiti, litter, broken shop windows and bus shelters: these are the stock-in-trade of the yobs that share our streets without sharing our values.

Of course, there are immediate things that could be done to help deal with the yob epidemic. Cut police bureaucracy for a start; less time filling in forms means more time out on the beat.

But there is no quick fix to this kind of oafish behaviour. More visible policing could help cut unplanned, probably drunken, criminal activity. However the problem, and the solutions, are deeper than that. The issue is at heart a cultural one; or rather one to do with an absence of cultural understanding and respect.

We need get the basics right. If children aren’t provided with a strong moral foundation, a basis on which to learn right from wrong, then things can become increasingly difficult as they get older; and the role of a loving, supportive family can not be overstated in helping to nurture a sense of shared social responsibility.

Government can help too. The work being done by parents in the home should support, and be supported by, the work being done by teachers in the classroom. Teachers need to be given the chance to teach, and not simply be slaves to an imposed curriculum. Vitally, head teachers need to be given the power to exclude disruptive pupils. Discipline and clear boundaries have always been, and will always be, fundamental to successful learning and to creating a sense of belonging to a society of shared values.

I hesitate to use the phrase “Cultural Revolution” because for older readers it will bring memories of the appalling atrocities committed by the Chinese dictator Mao. But we do need a cultural shift to rebuild the foundations of a stable society in which people respect each other, and each others’ property.

By the time the police have been called it’s too late.