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Tuesday Jul 18, 2006
RESPECT: YouthNet's campaign kicks off
Two pensioner ladies are walking down the street in Colchester on the way to the shops. As they approach a bus-stop, they see four young men sitting on wall, dressed in tracksuits. One has his hood up, another has a baseball cap on, a third is smoking. What do the two ladies do? They quickly cross the street.
And can you blame them? According to the press and our political leaders, young people are yobs, hoodies, thugs, scum... is it any wonder that these two ladies fear four teenage boys?
Well as of today, YouthNet is aiming to change all this.
For about six months now, YouthNet and our friends at British Youth Council have been working behind the scenes on a report which has now been released. It's called Respect: The voice behind the hood. For the first time, someone has actually talked to young people about what they think about anti-social behavior, the media, politicians and how young people are treated in society.
I don't need to go into detail here about what the report says: you can read it yourself here. But what we hope to do is show that young people often think the same as other people; that they are more likely to be a victim than a perpetrator of crime; and that the demonising of young people causes problems for everyone, not just for young people.
Tonight, we're running a discussion at the House of Commons which will bring together young people and politicians. We'll post some of the key points here tomorrow, hopefully along with an audio feed.
And what can you do? Tell your friends and colleagues about the report. Badger your local politicians to take on some of the recommendations. Remind your journalist friends that young people are out there doing good things too. Look for ways to open dialogues between young and old.
We're hoping to change the way young people are discussed. Not just for their sakes, but for the good of all.
Posted by Dom Waghorn ( 12:01 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]