A good link to Stanley Cohen & Moral Panics

Young People in the Media – www.headsup.org.uk

There's plenty been written on how the media portrays politics. But what about the media representation of young people and their involvement in politics. Stovin Hayter is the editor of Children Now magazine. Here he talks about the damage the press is capable of when it comes public perceptions of young people... You could pick up a local newspaper in almost any part of Britain and see articles that use headlines and terms like:

"... unruly youths... gangs of children as young as 13... terrorising people... youths running wild..."- Edinburgh Evening News

"Like a plague, the city seems to be in the grip of lawlessness among the young."- Peterborough Evening Telegraph

From the tone of these reports you would think that the behaviour they hype up is some new threat to society. They paint a picture of mayhem, fear on the street, and a generation out of control. The word 'youth', in the press, seems to have become synonymous with street crime and antisocial behaviour. Most of those headlines are about real incidents where particular young people have behaved appallingly, and in many cases have made the lives of their neighbours a misery. But from the language and tone used, you would think that teenagers were responsible for the majority of crime and that young people were completely out of control. In fact only 1.8 per cent of 10- to 17-year-olds were convicted or cautioned in 2001. For 21- to 25-year-olds it was 2.4 percent, and for 26- to 30-year-olds it was 2.1 percent. The sense of moral panic that is fuelled by the Press, the shrill demands that "something must be done", influences politicians and people who vote. It fuels public fear. Many people are afraid of young people in hoodies. Teenagers hanging around a bus stop are "threatening" simply because they are there. Eventually, such hysteria feeds into public policy, such as the recently enacted antisocial behaviour law (which many of you discussed in an earlier HeadsUp Forum). That’s the one under which you can now be fined for missing school, or that allows councils to declare zones where curfews can be imposed, and where police will have powers to break up groups of young people if their presence is perceived as threatening. These measures will affect all young people, not just the troublemakers.