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There was a time when juvenile delinquents with a penchant for running street battles were considered a big social problem. And they may still be a big problem, as a new outbreak of violence between rival colleges has made the headlines once again. The only problem is that this is no longer a symptom of youth or an isolated case of social trouble, and maybe these renewed clashes between college gangs and the ongoing hostility between the "yellow" and "red" movements are not merely coincidences.

How can we condemn the bloodthirsty youngsters when the red-and-yellow showdown has become all but institutionalised? How can we deplore the students for being a nuisance when what the yellow and red armies have inflicted upon the country has been far beyond merely irritating? Blood has been shed, property destroyed and lives snuffed out - not by rebelling teenagers but by adults who were totally conscious of their action.

Students hurt each other merely because their foes come from "the other" institution. Of course, the reason is silly, but it may be no sillier than adults assaulting each other merely because "the other" is wearing red or yellow. We can keep condemning the kids, but the sad thing is we can no longer be an example. The kids can simply point at the casualties from the red-yellow confrontations and say: "Mind your own business."

In the past, we sent warring students to boot camps, hoping it would discipline them and make them realise the values of unity. We can still do that, only it will make us look stupid this time. Already, a much publicised "unity" ritual supervised by the police, who made the young rivals shake hands, looks like a joke.

Thai adults are very much like the "mother crab" that keeps trying to teach her children to walk in a straight line. This couldn't be more obvious than on newspapers' front pages, where reports about battling delinquents often go alongside reports about concerns that the red shirts may clash with yellow sympathisers.

There are far too many bad examples set by Thai adults over the past few years. Differences in political opinion may be more explicable than the need to whack the living daylights out of someone wearing the colours of "the other" institution. But when people with different political beliefs start assaulting one another we lose our legitimacy to tell the youngsters what to do.

So what should we tell the students? That they can't attack people dressed in "other" uniforms? That they have the right to wear "that" uniform? That everybody's rights should be respected? How can we tell them that the country would be better off if they were united? How can we tell them to control their wild side, when our so-called ideological wars have generated far worse results than their street battles? Can we reprimand them for "breaking from decades-long tradition" of using clubs and knives and turning to guns and grenades?

The Office of the Higher Education Commission has issued five new regulations to put an end to the violent brawls between students from Rajamangala University's Uthentawai Campus and the Pathumwan Institute of Technology. The additional rules include a strict ban on alcohol consumption on campus, complete records of each student and the installation of closed-circuit cameras at schools' entrances as well as other areas, such as venues visited by the students. Both institutions are also pondering having their freshmen attend joint classes.

These sound like good measures. But if they work, they may ironically confirm where the real problem lies. If liquor bans and closed-circuit cameras can restrain such the impulses of the young, the radicals among the red and yellow people will be left wondering why they can't be brought back to their senses by any measure.

There is no doubt who needs more help.The students will graduate in a few years' time, and once their uniforms are off for good, the nasty things they have done will look ridiculous. However, the vicious rivalry between the yellow and red extremists seems to be here to stay. Hatred and prejudice will continue eating into them no matter what they do or what they wear.

They won't stop or try to understand. They will find a way around any closed-circuit camera, and they will attack even without the influence of alcohol. They will never listen to any mediator because, unlike the students, they think they are doing it for a good cause, that the other side is wrong and deserves to be punished.