Over the last few weeks we have been having an issue around the church buildings with a couple of young people causing some problems which, perhaps ironically, most negatively impacts other young people who use the buildings. It would be easy to sigh and lament at young people today, because that fits with the perceived wisdom spoonfed to us from media sources that thrive on the negative and fearful stories.

I noticed also that in the Hamilton Advertiser last week the police reported that reported crime levels in Lanarkshire were considerably lower, despite the recent spate of murders - which it was good to see reported, lest we despair about "Broken Britain" - a political fib to make us fearful, if every I heard one.

The cartoon above is from Asbo Jesus, always worth a look, and reminds us that there is another side to the stories that we usually hear about young people. [There's more...]

The quote at the bottom is from Frontier Youth Trust, which works with vulnerable young people, and says, "young people are at risk of being judged by the poor behaviour of a minority".

They have done some research on this subject:

This research was carried out by Frontier Youth Trust, Impact (YCW) and Churches Together England. It is based on findings from 165 questionnaires and 3 focus groups and was conducted across England. Our intention was to explore adult perspectives of young people and to look at where those attitudes come from.

One of the main summary findings is that "When adults are thinking of young people as ‘perpetrators’ there is an overestimation relating to levels of anti social and criminal behaviour (in some cases very significantly). However, when thinking about young people as ‘victims’ they are underestimating the extent of young people’s vulnerability."

You can download the report here.

[Hat tip: Daniel Manastireanu]

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