The Youth of Today

“What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders;

they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets,

inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to

become of them?”

Plato 4th Century!!

StereotypesStereotypes are social constructs

•they originate in & reflect the power relations in society because they are part of a culture's ideology

•they foster values that reinforce group and individual subordination

•they marginalize people, treating them as "the other"

•they categorize people into groups whose members supposedly share inevitable characteristics, most typically, negative ones

Characteristics of stereotypes

•stereotypes are categorical & general, suggesting the traits apply to all group members

•they are inflexible or rigid, thus not easily corrected

•they are simplistic

•they are prejudgements not based on experience (They could be reinforced by negative personal experience.)

•can be conscious or unconscious

Is this the face of British

Teenagers?

What is the biggest issue facing young people today?

guardian.co.uk 15 April 2009

Where has this come from?According to recent research:

What worries teens the most:

Hegemony in News Representation of Youth/Teen/Teenagers

• Media industries operate within a structure that produces and reinforces the dominant ideology via a consensual ‘world view’.

• This world view is produced predominantly by white middle class, middle aged, heterosexual men.

• It is their ideas and values that infiltrate media texts and ensure that other voices do not get heard.

Fact or Fiction?

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warned in 2009 that:

•Rates of sexually-transmitted infections among teenagers and under-age sex are roaring•Children being so obese that their only hope is surgery•There are falling standards in schools •More than 1.5 million Britons had considered moving home because of young people "hanging around" their neighbourhood.•British adults are also twice as likely than German adults to cross the road when they encounter teenagers committing anti-social behaviour.•Britons were too frightened to get involved and tackle teenagers for fear of physically attack, fear of reprisals and being verbally abused .

Or could it be that young people growing up in this country are being deliberately misunderstood by politicians and headline writers who wish to use them to suit their own

ends?

Not one of these fears appears to be borne out by the facts!

•According to NACRO, the penal reform charity, youth crime actually fell between 1993 and 2001 while Britain has one of the lowest crime rates among children in the whole of Europe.

•Tony Blair's "respect" campaign and the national "respect squad" set up by John Reid, only reinforced the adult fear factor of teenagers, a condition the report refers to as paedophobia.

•Labour, spurred on by sensational headlines about gangs of teenagers terrorising neighbourhoods, have been quick to turn soundbites into actions and introduced criminal justice measures deliberately targeting problem children.

•Since 1999, 2,000 Asbos have been issued against young people

False perceptions cont:• Pam Hibbert, principal policy officer for Barnados: "We have become fearful of all children. We know for

example young crime in itself has remained fairly static in the past 10 years - it is a minority that cause problems and retaliate. The demonisation of children and young people in some sections of the media and when politicians refer to youngsters as yobs - that breeds the actual fear."

• Elaine Peace, UK director of children's services at NCH, the children's charity, said that teenagers were more likely to be the victim of a crime than the perpetrator: "Young people are 10 times more likely to be actively volunteering in the community than committing offences and young people are more likely to be victims of crime than adults. The media is fuelling stereotypes of children and the fear of young people. We should be highlighting the fantastic work young people do in the community. We need to do more to involve older people in the community - mentoring schemes would be one option to help change perceptions.“

• Education standards have improved in both A-levels and GCSEs and independent studies have failed to prove that either exam is getting easier. Meanwhile, international surveys suggest that Britain's primary schools now have the third highest literacy rates in the world.

• Even the IPPR concedes that many of these stereotypes about teenagers may be unjustified. Nick Pearce, IPPR Director, says: "The debate about childhood in Britain is polarised between false opposites: that either children or adults are to blame. It also ignores inequalities in the transition to adulthood. Many children are safer, healthier and better educated than in the past, whilst others suffer complex, traumatic routes through adolescence.

Every 16-year-old would eventually be eligible for what Cameron described as "non-military national service" non compulsory scheme. Teenagers from different backgrounds would mix together to give them what the Tory leader described as "a sense of purpose, optimism and belonging".

"There is in this country today the most outrageous, the most disgraceful, the most pointless waste of potential. Our young people are as passionate and idealistic as any generation before. Perhaps even more so. They march against poverty, they set up Facebook campaigns, they push their parents to recycle and they care about climate change. But so many young people are lost. Show me a bus stop that's been bashed up and I'll show you the work of someone who has a lack of discipline in their life."

Is National Service the answer?

Propaganda

• Without the help of the media, people would be unlikely to permit the authorities the right to arrest ten year old children, and hold their details on record until they reach adulthood. It is only with the assistance of headlines such as the Daily Mail’s one in four adolescents is a criminal that they are able to obtain public support for new legislation. The following extract is an example of such fear inducing propaganda.

• Propaganda is a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position

The End Result:

Moral Panic!!

How does a moral panic emerge?

• Apparent rise in criminal or anti-social acts• Often a specific, shocking incident• Scapegoat ‘found’ in popular culture• Blame attributed in news coverage• ‘Experts’ consulted e.g. teachers., social

workers, police officers• Demands in action e.g. Change in law• Research disregarded or ridiculed

Lesson Aims

•To continue to develop understanding of how British youth and youth culture

are represented

•The main focus being on question 3 -

‘What are the social implications of different media representations of British youths and youth culture?’

What is happening at the moment?

• What are the social implications of these representations?

• What words describe youth and youth culture in today’s media?

• Are they positive/negative

• Draw an image of how you think youths are being represented

Putting the shoe on the other foot…

• Consider what understanding you have of the older generation (the elderly)…

• …write down words and an image to describe how you view the elderly

DVD

• Write down notes for discussion points following the DVD

• What subjects/topic areas are discussed in this that you – Relate to– Want to follow up– Disagree with– Strongly agree with?

DVD Discussion

Identity Boxes

• Grab your identity boxes and sit opposite someone you do not know so well

• You have one minute each to tell each other about how your box represents your identity

• You will have to feedback to the class what you have learnt about your partner

Last Points about social media…

Why social media is shit…

“Americans say they have fewer friends than ever before”

Source: Social isolation

in America:

Changes in core discussion

networks over two decades

‘We only have two close friends’.

Source: The Guardian:

Social networking aside how

many close friends

do you have?

Why?

1. EVERYBODY’S PRETENDING

2. EVERYBODY’S ELSEWHERE

3. EVERYBODY NEEDS TO BE ALONE

1. EVERYBODY’S PRETENDING

The Facebook version

Vs

the real version

THE ADVANTAGE OFSCREENS IS THAT THEY GIVE

US SOMEWHERE TO HIDE

‘Whenever there is time to write, edit and delete there is room for performance’.

Sherry Turkle,

Alone Together

WE FEAR THE ECHOCHAMBER CREATED BY

COPY AND PASTE

‘We’ve stopped living life at face value. Now we live life at interface value’.

Sherry Turkle,

Alone Together

WE SHOULD BEDOING MORE OF THIS

AND LESS OF THIS

2. EVERYBODY’S ELSEWHERE

NOBODY’SWHERETHEY ARE

NOT EVEN WITHTHEIR CHILDREN

‘Technology like iPhones close us off from our ecosystems. This is why we don’t take care of nature.’Juan Pablo Orrego, 180° South

IT’S NOT A NEW PROBLEM

‘In the hopesof reachingthe moon menfail to see theflowers thatblossom attheir feet.’Albert Schweitzeer

3. EVERYBODY NEEDS TO BE ALONE

BUT IT’SALMOSTIMPOSSIBLETO BE ALONETHESE DAYS

SO WHAT SHOULD WE ALL DO?

LIVE A LESSMEDIATED LIFE

MYSPACE

Digital YouthHow new technology has affected

collective identity

How do youth trends spread?Traditional Model

• Global youth was ‘atomised’ (broke off into smaller fragments)

• Trend begins, usually led by a celebrity, in one country (usually USA or UK).

• Media would then spread this trend• Other nations’ youth would spot the trend, adopt

it as an easy route to solidarity with other teens,• Popularity (and media coverage) would increase

in intensity and get a wider spread of distribution.

How has digital technology changed this?

• Young people have grown up taking internet, mobiles, mp3s for granted.

• Interactivity – opportunity to manipulate the media experience.

• Instantaneity – ability to access (and experience) media texts ‘on-demand’.

• ‘Cloud Culture’ – information (including media texts and experiences) ‘float’ above us, we can ‘reach up’ and ‘grab’ it whenever we want.

How do youth trends spread?

21st Century Model• Youths create their own style, their own media; • They tell others about it using social networking

sites, blogs etc; quality content downloaded and spread by viral.

• Global reach of the internet means newly invented trends are ‘instantaneously’ spread across the world where they develop or decline according to how many people decide to follow them.

• Then mainstream media may become involved.

Who controls the future of youth culture?