By Nigel Alred, from Salt Grammar School, who spent last week on work experience at the Keighley News

A downside of the World Cup has definitely been the rioting of the so-called "fans". They have given English football a bad name and have probably ruined England's chances of staging the World Cup in 2006.

The images of hooligans rampaging on the streets of Marseilles were looked upon in great disgust amongst the English public. The nation was shown up by a very small minority of fans out for one thing, to cause trouble.

Personally I feel sorry for the genuine fans who just want to watch the football and possibly have a nice peaceful holiday in France. They are being treated very harshly by the French, being abused and looked down on all because those drunken yobbos. It just isn't fair, so I believe that any fan who causes trouble in the slightest should be sent home immediately.

I asked pupils at Holy Family School in Keighley their opinions on the matter, they gave a varied range of answers.

Scott Bennett, 16, said the real fans were suffering. "It's not fair on the genuine English fans," he said.

Ben Turner agreed. "Most people don't want to fight," he said.

Nicky Trowers and James Ekong, both 12, and Chris Boocock and Simon Todd, both 13, all felt the hooligans are a disgrace to the country.

Emma Midgley also thought they are a disgrace, adding: "They should definitely be punished more than they are being."

Also on the theme of punishment, Robert Fielden, 12, and Neville Taylor, 14, agreed: "They should be banned from attending football matches for the rest of their lives."

James Batty, 13, felt: "They should be locked up until the World Cup is over." And Joe Emmott, 13, believed: "If they are out to cause trouble they might as well be put in jail for life." And Steven Roberts, 12, thought the trouble-makers should receive a punishment far more severe: "They should be hung," he insisted.

However, even though the English fans are very much in the limelight, the German and Tunisian fans have also been causing trouble, as Jenna Loftus pointed out. "It isn't just English fans that are causing the trouble so why do we have to take all the blame?" she asked.

Clearly, young people at home are very unhappy about the behaviour of the 'fans' in France, to the point of being ashamed of them.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.