Background
Currently, 88% of articles about young people are negative. However, numerous surveys into the issue have shown that the majority of young people are good. For example, Frontier Youth Trust, in research for its "labels r 4 jars not young people" campaign, found that the majority of adults overestimate teenage pregnancy rates and youth crime, despite the fact that the majority said they had not been intimidated by young people in the past year. This view was informed by the media in 61% of cases, while only 8% said they had regular contact with young people.
The British Youth Council's "Respect?" campaign found that 90% of young people denounce anti-social behaviour and 98% felt that the media portrayed them as antisocial, which 80% believed made older generations respect them less.
The Prince's Trust found that less than 10% of young people carry knives, take drugs or join gangs.
The reasoning behind campaigning to improve the images of young people in the media is therefore simple: young people are being portrayed unfairly and inaccurately, and this is having a damaging effect on community cohesion, where old fear young, and young mistrust old.
Read more about this topic: See The Good Behind The Hood
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