In an attempt to capitalise (a bit belatedly in my opinion) on the wristband craze that seems to be all the rage amoung "young people these days," the PSNI have launched their own multicoloured "Respect Difference" wristbands. The police hope the scheme will encourage children and young people to respect everyone regardless of "creed, religion, race, colour or sexuality".

An admirable sentiment but I can't help but questioning if they've left it too late. Fads like this are fickle and I'd say the popularity of the bands has probably peaked now that the market has been saturated. I'm also generally nervous about public bodies or government agencies "gettin' dan wif da yoof".

I hope my worries are unfounded though as it seems like a genuinely good idea to promote positive relations with young people in the community.

A spokesman said "Anyone can pop into their local station and pick up a wristband."

Follow up:

Of course Sinn Fein's mouthpieces couldn't resist finding something to snipe about, but what else have we come to expect from them when it comes to the police?

Update:
Sinn Fein councillor Billy Page had claimed the PSNI were handing out the wristbands in the streets wearing plain clothes "bribing" children to accept the "discredited force" (obviously an impartial observer our Billy). He'd presumably prefer to see only his buddies in the military wing of Sinn Fein the IRA handing out wristbands to bribe children to accept their discredited force. This would obviously cause some concern while safety campaigns try to warn children off talking to strangers.

The PSNI have totally denied the allegations, saying officers were asked to hand the Respect Difference wristbands out in schools, or if in other areas, while wearing full uniform.