Calm heads are needed in times of hardship

Headlines such as "UK banks face collapse" were never going to have any other effect than creating panic. When Northern Rock began having problems last year, the interviews with alarmed customers anxious to withdraw their savings who said things such as "I am putting mine under my mattress - at least I know what's going to happen to it there" provoked sympathy, irritation and unease in equal proportions.

We now know we are facing a period of uncertainty and justifiable fear. Families are facing an insecure future. It is the families who are least equipped to manage the downturn that will be the hardest hit, and it is their dependents, our young people, who will be forced to deal with the consequences.

One of the fundamental tenets of our responsibility to our young people is the guarantee of their safety, as far as possible. As adults, when faced with our fears, we feel devastated but at least we have the decision-making ability and the status to create a plan of attack or escape. For the young people in our care, their status is that of helpless bystander. To see people you respect and trust panicking is one of the most frightening and destabilising events that can happen to a young person.

We are dealing with a generation that has grown up with easily available credit and relative financial stability. The fact that the current financial situation is not, in all likelihood, going to make the problems attributed to our young people, such as lack of engagement, lack of self-esteem, lack of support and lack of emotional intelligence, any worse is worrying. That these issues were faced by our young people in a time of stability is shameful.

It is no coincidence that Gordon Brown's popularity has increased in the past month. He is rising effortlessly up the polls, contrary to the expectation that the man at the top gets the blame whether or not it is earned. In times of crisis, people turn to those who appear to be calm, sensible and in control: the "responsible adult" to whom young people are recommended to turn.

So much now depends on our fortitude, our realism, our pragmatism and our commitment to our core values. Only by displaying that we have the resources to handle this, without scapegoating the most vulnerable in our community, will we be able to give young people the reassurance that they will come through this, and so will we.

Adam Nichols is the chief executive of Changemakers.