So, what happens when you go on holiday and leave your untrustworthy 17-year-old home alone?

Answer: £20,000 worth of damage, of course!

After a recent discussion about kids and trust with friends, I felt obliged to comment on the story that recently hit the headlines. Durham teenager Rachael Bell advertised a house party on MySpace to which she thought only around 40 would attend.

Result? Yobs around the country got word, and 200 turned up uninvited, thus trashing the £230,000 family home. The Bell family are currently in temporary accommodation because the inside of their house is practically ruined.

Rachael is staying with a friend.

First off, anyone who openly advertises a party on MySpace - a site used by millions across the globe - is clearly a moron. Rachael has argued that her site was 'hacked' by classmates who leaked news of the party. (Like, whatever. Next time, don't give mates your password, okay honey?) Secondly, anyone who plans a 'small' party of around 40 people when their parents are out of town is, again, a moron. (Since when has '40 mates' been a SMALL party? There was me thinking that maybe 10 is a small social gathering. Damn me and my aged brain.) Yet something's really up here. I couldn't help but think it when I read the story.

Not only is Rachael Bell a stupid little girl, but the whole thing reeks of bad parenting.

The last thing Mrs Bell said to her daughter before she left was, 'No kids or drink in the house.' Now to say that, surely her mother would guess she'd be up to no good? In parent-speak, 'No drink!' quickly translates to: 'I fully expect that you are planning to bring alcohol into this house. For the love of God, don't.' If you have to warn your child about drink and guests beforehand, surely you know what's coming?

For a girl to pull a stunt like this, you have to admit that a) not only is she a crafty bugger, but b) something must be wrong with her parents in order to agree to leaving her at home.

Yes, we're all youngsters once, and yes, we make mistakes. But a mistake THIS big? I think not.

Granted I'm not a mother, so I've yet to deal with the horrors of unruly kids. But when I was younger? I would NEVER IN MY LIFE have done something like that. Never. And why?

Because my parents would have killed me. Oh, and there's the added benefit of, you know, having respect for other people's property and not wanting to be a general nuisance.

MySpace seems to have been the blame-taker in this party debacle. Yet MySpace was just a tool in this stupid little teenage operation; it was not to blame here. Unless of course, MySpace disobeys parents on your behalf, arranges huge parties for you, invites random people, and leaves buckets of vomit in your home? It's just one of those things: everyone and everything ELSE is to blame except for the lack of parenting skills.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Rachael is photographed on MySpace swaggering and brandishing lager. I'm guessing THAT'S the fault of the internet, too...

There's something really wrong when your teen acts like this. I'm just saying.

As for Rachael? Well, it would be nice to see her as part of the house clean-up team. Stick THOSE photos on MySpace - the stupid, brainless idiot.

Though she DID make front page of the Mirror. One would think that'd be embarrassing enough, yes?

Actually, it probably gave her all the attention she obviously yearned for in the first place.