Drugs, drink, knives and hoodies. Just four worrying things that we associate with the youth of today, but in reality, are we guilty of tarring them with the same brush
Ever been out late at night, maybe walking the dog or coming home from the pub and spotted a group of hooded youth larking about on a street corner? What’s the first thing that you think, Should I walk the other way? Will I get abuse hurled at me? Am I going to be attacked?
The fact is with the changing youth cultures in Britain and the number of crimes that young people are involved in, these thoughts are constantly in the forefront of our minds. Ideologies about youths have snagged so much that children’s old favourite, Rupert the Bear, has been re-design so that he sports a hoodie, I-Pod and cut-off jeans.
Before we condemn the future generation as being a gang of half-witted, arrogant, violence craving hooligans, more commonly known as chavs, just stop to consider the facts and what it is actually like to be a teenager in today’s society.
Firstly, other than a cinema, or the local bowling alley, what is there for them to do? How many parents would be willing to have a house full of teenagers on a Friday and Saturday night? And exactly how do they get enough money to go to their places of interest?
The fact of the matter it is only a minority of youths who are causing criminal damage or attacking innocent citizen, but all youths are labelled the same.
Catherine Holligan runs a community youth in the north-west and she believes that all youths are given a negative image, mainly through the media. "We try and provide something for the teenagers to do. I feel sorry for them because the vast majority that I encounter are really nice people."
Youth clubs and community centres have declined in popularity over the last ten years, mainly due to not having sufficient funding to keep them up to date.
"We always get big groups in, but they just talk and have a laugh with each other. I think that they are just looking for a time were their all out of school and can have a good gossip!" Catherine added.
The pre-conceived ideas about youths, especially in big gangs, can lead to unfair accusation. 16 year old Jake Smith said: "The police will always come over and ask what you’re up to or where you’ve been. I can remember being stopped four times in one night."
Jake doesn’t think that there is anything wrong with a big group "hanging out" around streets or parks, so long as there’re not causing any harm. "We aren’t doing anything wrong just having a laugh. I can understand why some people might be scared, but we don’t go out to cause trouble."
Special officer Chris Petty the police are always looking for the first signs of trouble. "I deal with a lot of people who are out to cause trouble. Telling the difference between those who want trouble and those who don’t is very hard."
29% of young people said they had committed at least one act of antisocial behaviour in the past year, the most common of which was antisocial behaviour by causing a public disturbance (15%), followed by causing ‘neighbour complaints’ (13%). More serious incidents such as joyriding and carrying a weapon were much less common.
Of those responsible for antisocial behaviour, the majority (68%) only committed one type of behaviour. Only 9% committed three or more different types. Chris Petty believes that the figures are being reduced because of the police’s targeting approach.
"We do tend to stop a lot of young groups that are out on the street, but that’s only to prevent anything serious from happening. Most of the time they’re just mucking around with their mates and not causing any harm."
There have been recent measures that have come into place to try and curb anti-social behaviour. Polices such as ASBOs and curfews have all been well documented, yet it seems to adults who have been more affected by their introduction as last year 990 ASBOs were given to people aged 10 to 17, were as 1498 were given to people 18+.
One of the greatest crimes than can be committed appears to already have been done. Grouping these individuals under the one horrible umbrella is quite simply unjust. There are a lot of good people beneath the tack suit bottoms and tilted baseball cap that are not given the chance to prove themselves. Perhaps the old cliché ‘never judge a book by its cover’ should be adapted to say ‘never judge a chav by others.’
James Parr