This week: Justin Bieber

You didn’t get this sort of nonsense with Donny Osmond. Teen sensation Justin Bieber upset thousands of fans when he turned up two hours late to his sell-out concert at the O2 Arena in London on Monday. Strung-out children were falling asleep in their seats, others were crying, and many families left early for fear of missing the train home. Furious parents took to Twitter to vent their spleens and demand refunds as pre-teen Armageddon erupted around them.

We lecture our children endlessly about being punctual, reliable and delivering their homework on time. And we despair when their role models fail to live up to these standards. From Tiger Woods to John Terry, numerous sports stars have behaved in ways that would make any teacher or parent roll their eyes.

So, Mr Bieber, you may be extremely popular but with that popularity comes great responsibility: on time and squeaky clean is the only way when your fan base is aged 7-9 and they’ve got school in the morning.

And, in a final postscript, perhaps some of the parents at your infamous concert could share the naughty step with you? It strikes TES as somewhat inevitable that a four-year-old at a huge evening concert might drop off before the headline act, even if that act isn’t two hours late to the stage.