Young people as victims or perpetrators
There was disagreement about whether young people are the perpetrators or victims of social evil.
Some participants criticised youth culture and blamed young people for anti-social behaviour, binge drinking, violence, gun and knife crime and other problems. Others focused on how young people are failed by their families and the school system, and are misrepresented in the media.
There was also concern about the perceived “growing gulf between the old and the young” as one website participant put it, and the negative attitudes this can encourage between generations.
Young people in the unheard groups talked about how their place in wider society felt uncomfortable. There were concerns that young people lack good role models and that some face limited opportunities and job prospects.
Negative stereotyping was a common concern, borne out by comments from older participants, who expressed their – at times unfounded – fear of young people:
I noticed there was a bunch of youths standing around and my immediate reaction was to stop and think ‘Oh my goodness, shall I go the other way?’ Until two seconds later I realised it was my own son and his friends. But that reaction was in me already.
Some comments from the consultation
“Young people [have] no manners, no self-control, no respect for anything.”
“There is a wealth of potential in young people…they tend to be stigmatised rather than encouraged.”
“They just, they’re stereotyping young kids now as all being little yobs…There are a lot of yobs out there, but not everyone who just wears tracksuit bottoms and stuff like that.”
on April 20th, 2008 at 7:59 am
An African proverb says ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and this applies just as well here, and today. Start unpacking this powerful thought and you get some idea of how our young people are being let down.
Many neighbourhoods lack appropriate facilities for recreation or social interchange. A lack of parental guidance leads to lack of social skills. Add a general lack of insight generally, into how difficult it is for young minds to negotiate growing independence in a world of so many confusing choices and there you have it.
Possible solutions? Learn from women, have a young people’s emancipation movement: burn your X-Boxes and organize consciousness-raising groups for yourselves. Don’t let people boss you about - responsibly, don’t hide behind drugs, vile behaviour and drunken oblivion. Good luck !!!
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on April 20th, 2008 at 10:35 am
The knowledge required to develop the individual to enable a better citizen leading to a better community already exists, requiring good moral practice, emotional and intelligence input and a little funding help. Having worked voluntary with disadvantaged teenagers aboard a sailing schooner, (specially chosen as a medium for social working and not a training vessel) on a shoestring budget for twenty-five years, our study showed how changes could be made to change anti-social behaviour. The work had to finish because the private charitable trust required a new vessel but was unable to raise the required funds. However a cheaper method of working was considered with an accommodation unit in the country, using the idea of a barn conversion but here again £70,000 of fund was required and out with our budget.
Lottery money we found now goes to local authorities in many instances for their chosen programmes and very small amounts go to private organisations. The trust’s running costs per year were minimal with volunteers helping out, sadly this pool of unpaid volunteers is diminishing and private charitable organisations are being badly affected and closing down in some instances. Councils in many cases are taking on the role of paying volunteers for their chosen support of some local organisations, but in doing so this weakens the structure of good helpers with a high-grade input.
This letter is simply to show a view, of how a changing system of present day working is damaging small local charities that could often lead the way with all-important pilot schemes.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on April 20th, 2008 at 11:39 am
More teenagers are victims rather than perpetrators of social evil and are stereotyped by sensational and irresponsible media coverage. They are accused of not being responsible, yet are not able to take part in making decisions that affect them, unable to take part in our so called, ´democracy´. Even the media offers them no voice, so they are unable to defend themselves against a constant onslaught of negative reporting.
The adult population does not even set a good example. A huge number are what they accuse teenagers of being, irresponsible, apathetic and lazy. Participation in elections is one indicator of this.
Of course the causes of all social evils are many and interrelated. They need to be addressed with imagination and positive action. But the UK is dominated by passive acceptance, negativity and a blame culture - blame anyone but myself is a virus like disease that has spread throughout British society like an epidemic.
The solutions are leadership, acceptance of the need for restraint and responsibility by all, inclusion, true democracy and above all positive action.
The GIVE A FU*K organisation I recently launched is intended to give teenagers a voice that challenges the stereotype and allows them to show they are care about many issues. It does so in a deliberately provocative way. Unfortunately teenagers need to ´shout´ to be heard.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on April 20th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
The breaking down of social infrastructures is at the core of the difficulties faced by young people today. Kids used to care how they were perceived within their communities, and would strive to live up to the expectations of those around them. But with these communities breaking apart, young people increasingly find themselves without stable, morally aware role models.
Teenagers haven’t changed over the years, their environments have changed. Young people have always been energetic, and aggressive, and misunderstood. And sad. It’s a physical and emotional process faced by everyone. It’s the goals towards which these qualities are directed that have gone wrong. Nobody cares if they get into trouble, and without guidance, many do.
Entire communities increasingly feel they are no longer living within the boundaries of society, and thus they alienate themselves from it. Crime is a normal way of life for many, because why should anyone wish to be part of a club that would refuse to have them as a member? Inclusion is key.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on April 20th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
it could be argued that a lot of young peopl are victims of growing up in an unforgiving selfish society. they then become the perpetrators as they know nothing different. thats a paradox i guess. i have no idea how to stop this. apart froma strict communist regime. same clothes, same haircuts, same sharing of wealth for all.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on April 20th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
One of the key issues to my mind is the decline of political youth groups like the Young Socialists and Young Conservatives. Both these mass membership organisations ensured that a youth perspective was visible and audible in the two main political parties.
Many Government policies are ‘anti-youth’. For example, recently the interest rate on student loans has been doubled, and there are calls to prevent 17 year old from driving.
And a generation that enjoyed Government subsidy on Mortgage interest rates to enable young people to get on the housing ladder now denies this to the current generation.
The core point is that the political process now largely excludes young people.
A solution to my mind is the direct election of key officials such as Chief Constables, Health Trust Chairman, Fire Chiefs, Local Authority Chief Executives and the rest. This direct relationship between the population and the people carrying out public policies on their behalf would energise people of all ages to have their say and feel that public authorites were accountable.
Mike Jones FRSA FCILT
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on April 21st, 2008 at 5:34 pm
It would be interesting to see what would happen if some kind of national community service were brought in to take the place of ‘gap year’ in which everyone (NOBODY should be exempt) has to do (say) two years of working at the kind of menial and/or unpleasant job(s) that are given no respect these days; cleaning, labouring, refuse collecting, etc. When they know what it’s like to work in such jobs, would people then appreciate the service they are given later on, and would it encourage people to take more pride in their work? It seems to me that a lot of the jobs at the bottom of the pile are done badly partly because nobody gives the workers any respect.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on April 25th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
If a young person has not learned the difference between right and wrong by say by the age of ten they need to be taught it. Bad or criminal behavior should not be condoned excused or as sometimes happens rewarded to do so only reinforces it. Children need a clear understanding of what is acceptible and what is not acceptible behaviour. If youngsters are not recieving guidance from their families then it needs to come from outside the family. Not to do so is wrong for the young peope and wrong for society.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on April 27th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
If we are to have a future society which is going to have respect for itself and others the children have to be taught at the earliest age, and here the kind of upbringing in the family is vital. The child has got to be loved and supported and taught what is right and wrong and how to relate to other children and adults. Adults also have a responsibility. As well as the three Rs schools should be teaching and encouraging good citizenship with part of the curriculum geared to letting the pupils attend meetings and events with adult groups. I have attended one such consultation meeting which was organised by our local authority covered ideas from the public as to how they wanted to see their local services run. At this meeting were pupils representing three schools. They behaved very well and listened to what the rest of us had to say and we in turn listened to them, and I believe we should encourage more of this as we learn a lot from listening to each other, and this leads to better understanding. Young people need to be included in what is happening around them. Adult leadership is important young people look for role models to follow so it is essential that this leadership is a good and positive influence. By example the young have got to be led away from the road which leads to crime drugs and binge drinking. Sadly this good influence is lacking in many places. The church is not providing the lead which it should, testimony to this can be seen by the number of empty pews. Politicians and the public in general have their part to play in setting a good example to the young, I am sorry to say that at the moment the examples are anything but good. Young people look at the way others behave, if they get the perception that if all the others are committing crime using drugs or drinking themselves stupid then they say why shouldn’t we it seems to be quite acceptable. It is a case of society having to change attitudes and habbits, and now this is easier said than done.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on May 6th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Young people are victims of a society which really has outgrown the way we live.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.Young people are the future, they carry the drive and energy for the future. They are our little turbo chargers. Inevitably they need to challenge their peers and elders in order to grip what they can apply themselves to. They also need to test their drive against that of their elders.
More carrots! Less stick! Cheaper car insurance for youngsters that can be shown to be good risks, for a start. They love driving, this is the world they inherit, let them drive for society, be useful. What else can they do with their drive? It would free us up to attend to cleaning up the mess we’ve created, by gardening, recycling, making our lives better on less. If we don’t show them how to do it who is? They’ll get the hang of it.
on May 6th, 2008 at 10:43 am
JOSEPH ROWNTREE – ERIC BERNE
Joseph Rowntree called upon us all to seek out the fundamental causes of weakness and evil in society.
Eric Berne gave us a succinct view of self-and-others; the tool required to achieve the above aim.
I would assert that (whether evil comes from social incompetence or – if such is your view - from letting the Devil in) its root cause IS weakness; the weakness of the individual.
In Berne’s terms, weakness amounts to an under-developed Adult ego state* in the psyche; a condition I see as pertaining all over the planet. The two terrible truths of society, are: (1) individual weakness is increasing, and (2) the overcompensating-weak, rise to positions of power. Consequently, any corrective effort must reach out directly to the very young as the Powers That Be are, instinctively, fearful of general empowerment.
I have synthesised an approach. It can be found www.barriesingleton.co.uk as outlined in 1995 to Rowntree. Click on “Visionary Stuff”.
Only wisdom empowers; cleverness is inclined to enslave. Development of a strong Adult ego state engenders wisdom and is vital to individual, family, group, state and world stability. Adult strength is the ultimate answer to every weakness and evil.
* Transactional Analysis http://changingminds.org/explanations/behaviors/ta.htm
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on May 6th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Society reaps the harvest of the way it treats its children.
Children are treated as chattels of their parents and not given the normal human rights that would be afforded to adults. As such we see children as people who can be hit, bullied or circumcised when these things would never be tolerated by adults.
Treat children with respect they will respect us.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on May 6th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
The focus of our work at Splitz is with victims of domestic violence and abuse; with children, women and men who are perpetrators. People don’t suddenly become victims or perpetrators because they’re grown up. Issues begin much earlier in life.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.As a country we need to look at the size of schools; too many children in a huge, noisy environment - this seems to be the only time in life we’re subjecting people to such an experience; and children can get ‘lost’, overlooked, disengage, and very little in the way of support and encouragement - sink or swim! This is the environment where bullying takes place with extremely weak policies and procedures to eliminate it.
We need to look at why women - mothers in particular, feel so obliged to go out to work - and so children are being ‘parented’ by childcare/nursery arrangements - or not - as the case may be.
Children are not tomorrows voice - they’re the voice of today and very much part of our communities.
I recently read Jodi Picoults latest book ‘19 minutes’ about the outcome of unchecked bullying. Its worth a read and contains provoking teaching notes at the end. Go for it!
on May 6th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
In reference to Kate Sayer’s idea that young people should have to join in some kind of menial work, I hope that would exclude any teenagers and young adults with part-time jobs in places like supermarkets. It can be very demanding in the right supermarkets - I worked in one that was very keen on good customer service (which is right) and it taught me a lot between the ages of 17 and 21 (I went back for two summers between university years) about dealing with people, even when those customers were abusive, argumentative and seemed to be deliberately trying to be awkward. I think it was the best “people skills” training I have ever had.
But I also think it’s important that we, as society, don’t get carried away by saying “all young people should do National Service” etc when we actually are referring to troublemakers. A lot of younger people (I was one) try their hardest at school, college, university etc and work in places like supermarkets at weekends and holiday just to make some money, and yet the whole generation is demonised for the actions of just a few.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on May 6th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I myself am a young person, and yet sometimes when i see a gang of youths, i want to turn the other way, because i fear from past experiances that they will target me. Which admittedly isn’t always the case.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.I volunteer at a Brownie unit as a young leader, i spent every summer doing volunteer work such as renovating old schools etc, i help at an old folk’s home and yet i often find myself being demonised by strangers. There has been a few cases where i have picked up someones bag that they dropped, i go to return it and people are threatened or confuse me for stealing it. I think a media campaign is needed for such cases to rid some of the prejudice of both the old and the young.
on May 7th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Young people are the victims of some shocking inequalities and unfairness, so it’s hardly surprising that some of them become disenchanted enough to become perpetrators.
Two examples illustrate some of the barriers to justice:
1) A young woman and her friend were outside Leeds railway station station in broad daylight on a busy August day. She was assaulted by a drunken male who pulled off her hijab. Yet no-one was even charged because there was “not enough evidence”.
2) The Youth Opportunity Fund was introduced by the Government to enable disadvantaged young people to have things to do and places to go. A bid by young people from 3 inner-Bradford schools, which would have benefited several thousand young people from BME backgrounds or with special needs or who are deaf was rejected ; yet in the first year only 1200 Bradford young people benefited whilst Bradford Youth Service acquired over a third of the fund to refurbish two of its buildings !!
There is a pressing need for a Young People’s racial justice project in West Yorkshire to eliminate corruption and equalise opportunities.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on May 14th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Where do children learn?
From their parents, siblings and friends, and in doing so, have a choice to make, but for some children, the pressures can be overwhelming and drag them into a spiral of bad behaviours, gang culture and crime before they fully understand why they did what they did.
By then, its often too late and they continue to behave in the same way for the rest of their life, but are not happy in doing so.
How to tackle that? Start be treating them like young adults,from the outset, and by that I mean whilst at school, and tackle the real issues behind their behaviours, such as neglect, abuse, drug use, etc but remember they dont know it all, and just as we did, they need to learn, not be lectured at.
Listening to the children allows you to hear whats being said, and in most cases, what is not being said.
It feels like we have forgotten how painful and confusing teenage years were and how we ourselves struggled to find our way through the tangle of becoming an adult, and taking on adult responsibilities!
Then and only then do we stand a chance of hearing them, and understanding why they do what they do, and far more importantly, stop doing it and leave the gang culture behind.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on May 16th, 2008 at 7:14 am
If we look at society today and how it is being shaped and really think back around 10years ago and before. The shaping of society has always been governed by the MEDIA. If the media reports anything negative, then there are people out there gullable enough to believe and say ‘well if the media are reporting this it must be true’? I have questioned this for years and my view is still the same. The media run this country, even down to the elections. How the media reports and portrays their perception of incidents and issues is probably quite far from the truth. After all they want to sell papers!!! and make money!!!! Just watch and listen when anything is being reported and question it? Did it really happen this way?
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on May 19th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
[…] are today’s social evils? Posted on May 19, 2008 by Chris Check out this from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (Thanks […]
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on May 20th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I’ve just left school recently So I belive this gives me more right to talk aboutcurrent state of todays youth culture than most people. Young people as a majority are victimised by a select minority who all drink buckfast. This might sound rediculous but If you look at the vast majority of violent crime committed by young people you will se that buckfast is involved somewhere down the line. BAN BUCKFAST!!! and the violent minority will subside.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on May 23rd, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I had a bad upbringing.Abuse from the age of five in a Childrens Home that people today know about. Me I had all the problems relateing to this abuse.I didnt tearn out bad I help others I servive I get on with my life. I dont blame any one now. Any how who gives a XXXXXXX. ANN.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on June 2nd, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I am concerned that we have a generation of children and young people that are affectively “unwanted” by their parents. They do not appear to be welcome in their own homes and choose to spend their time on the streets, hanging around shopping areas or parks. My own children were always encouraged to have friends around, were able to meet with three or four in their own bedrooms and were therefore safe and more importantly welcomed. This seems to still be the ‘norm’ within middle class families but the experience for many of our ‘working class’ children is different. I see children as young as 5 living close to my own home, still out in the streets after dark, where are their parents and why are they unconcerned about the welfare of their children. Is it true that they simply “cannot be bothered” after a long day at work? I have heard this said, is it true? The other gap between those adopting a middle class upbringing for their children (and this includes many working class parents) and those who appear to adopt a less traditional approach - that of engagement in after schools activities. How many of the kids walking the streets and causing problems in wider society have had access to the Scouts, Guides, football, dancing, music etc? We could encourage parents to give their children these opportunities by subsidising fees and uniforms, or just by making them more atractive to every child and not just to some.
Abusive? Inappropriate? Report this comment.on July 4th, 2008 at 10:13 am
the article was very nice. i want to know some of your articles and your opinions about the present social issues which will help me to do my doctorate on dalit youth.
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