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Monday Apr 24, 2006
Tony's mark of Cain
Even the government's chief advisors are turning against government policy - but will Tony and co listen? (Answer: no)
He told the Independent:
"There are adverse consequences of fixing a mark of Cain to a child's forehead. We should not forget the lessons of the 1960s and 70s of the labeling effect. The argument is that if you give a dog a bad name then the dog may live up to the name."
I've got a lot of sympathy for this view. But it isn't just the government which gives the dog the bad name. Here at YouthNet we get media alerts every day which pull out headlines from the main papers for stories that cover young people. Yobs, thugs, happy-slappers, drug addicts... I reckon at least nine out of ten stories are about teenagers involved in petty crime. Is it any wonder that older people fear groups of kids hanging out at bus stops?We're doing some interesting research at YouthNet into this issue of young people, fear and respect. Watch this space. Posted by Dom Waghorn ( 4:50 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]
