For mothers all over Bristol, there will be cards tomorrow, and maybe even flowers and chocolates.

Mother's Day is, of course, a chance to let mums know how much they are appreciated.

I reckon the mums of the teenagers who hang around Crow Lane in Henbury will have got tokens of affection from their offspring, too. This week, a senior police officer linked these youngsters with "youth anti-social behaviour, which is driven, in part, by alcohol misuse".

Superintendent Ian Wylie also said that parents need to take responsibility for their offspring's behaviour. Given that his officers have arrested two 15-year-old girls in connection with an attack by a gang of about 20 on two Brazilian men, it would seem to be a fair point.

But this weekend, when most people's thoughts are turning to their mothers, surely it wouldn't be asking too much for these teenagers to try taking responsibility for themselves – if not for their own sakes, then for the sakes of their mothers? For while any mother will always be delighted to receive a lovely card, a bunch of flowers or some chocolates on Mother's Day, what matters even more is knowing you can feel proud of your child on any day of the year.

It's been all too easy to play the blame game about what has been happening around Crow Lane, which some residents claim has become a no-go area at night, although police deny this.

Supt Wylie didn't mince his words when he said: "Parents have got to take responsibility for their children" – echoing concerns voiced by some residents about parents letting their kids stay out late, and not knowing – nor, it has been claimed, caring – what they are doing.

However, Supt Wylie also pointed out that society needs to support "children with individual challenging needs" – reflecting views of those like the mother-of-four who left a message on the Post's website, saying three of her children had turned out well, but one had gone off the rails and she'd been unable to get help from social services.

Meanwhile, other residents have blamed the police for failing to respond promptly to crime problems in the Crow Lane area.

The situation on Crow Lane appears to be the manifestation of various problems, so there are likely to be elements of truth in all the blame being thrown around. But while the police blame parents, and parents blame social services, and local residents blame the police, let's not forget to point the finger of blame at the main culprits here – the teenagers themselves.

Of course it's a matter for concern that 15-year-olds are out on the streets in the early hours of Sunday morning. But are we really supposed to think that these teenagers are old enough to go out on their own, yet so immature that they need their mummies beside them to tell them not to get involved in a gang attack?

Are we meant to believe that the two Brazilian men got beaten up because police hadn't set up camp at Crow Lane, or because each of the teenagers didn't have their own social worker?

Come off it. This attack happened because at some level those involved made a decision to hit and kick two men who had done nothing to them. And no matter what excuses the protagonists come up with, ultimate responsibility for their actions lies with them.

Teenagers have always hung around with groups of mates, and often end up staying out later than they said they would. I can remember frequently walking up the garden path with a pale grey dawn breaking in the sky, carrying my shoes in my hands so my mother wouldn't hear me and realise how late I was.

But clearly something has gone wrong for the teenagers on Crow Lane if meeting up with their mates is something that degenerates into violence towards innocent passers-by. One resident has described the situation as being like Lord of the Flies, the William Golding novel that deals with the damaging effect of peer group pressure.

If that's the case, then the solution doesn't simply lie with parents keeping their kids under lock and key at night, in the hope that they won't end up under lock and key in a juvenile detention centre.

While parental responsibility is important, a teenager who has fallen in with a bad crowd is as capable of causing trouble at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon as they are at 2am in the morning. The ones who can put a stop to the anti-social behaviour that has been plaguing the Crow Lane area are the kids themselves.

They are the individuals who need to start taking responsibility – and in doing so, they could give their mums the best possible gift of all for Mother's Day.