Teenagers' tarnished image can be rebuilt
Rob Cope
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
It's been a tough year for Britain's youth. It started with the front cover of Time magazine featuring a menacing young man wearing a hooded top, superimposed with a Union Jack flag. The cover star represented Britain's youth who are, claimed the US publication, "unhappy, unloved and out of control".
A barrage of negative press followed. The record spate of teenage murders in London led to a constant drip-feed of stories vilifying our young people. Reading the great British press, it would be easy to think that all our teenagers are involved in gangs and wielding knives.
There is a real problem with youth crime in some parts of the UK, but the word "youth" shouldn't be interchangeable with yob. Far from it.
The Prince's Trust's own research shows 60 per cent of coverage on young people is negative. So how does the voluntary sector redress the balance?
Last month marked The Prince's Trust's first national Youth Week. An army of 200 young ambassadors and a dedicated YouTube channel promoted Britain's young people throughout the week. It also marked an alliance for the first time with 14 other national youth organisations, including Action for Children, Barnardo's, NSPCC and YMCA to highlight the positive difference young people can make.
Barnardo's PR drive during Youth Week raised the concerns of a nation that thought our children were feral. Its shocking poll shows that society is intolerant of children and young people. Its work to raise an important issue should be applauded. It was well- received in many media quarters but, arguably, often the strongest news stories are the ones that lead with a negative headline.
If the sector is to work together to dispel negative stereotypes of young people, it needs to collectively decide what the positive messages about our nation's youth are. For example, teenagers are more likely to volunteer than any other age group. Nearly two-thirds of 10- to 15-year-olds have helped raise money for charity. And young people are more likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators.
The success of any future national youth campaign should be assessed on the sector's ability to showcase young people's positive side. Only by developing a consistent approach to young people's best attributes can we really have any hope of giving British young people the makeover they deserve.
Rob Cope is deputy director of marketing and communications at The Prince's Trust.
