Another Brick on the Wall
A recent survey by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) published in newspapers earlier in November 2006, brought to the surface the long-discussed problem of youth delinquency. The survey suggests that British youths are the biggest delinquents in Europe, with 44 percent of British teenagers getting into fights, 27 percent drinking heavily and 82 percent being sexually promiscuous. The findings sparked a long debate amongst columnists the last weeks. The question is who is to blame? What is the ambit of the problem in Cardiff?
The generations’ chasm has always been among those cliché essay topics at school years, where everybody referred to, in order to explain youth delinquency and its roots. Most people can number the key arguments to explain this phenomenon, easily. The weakening of the family institution is to blame, The Sunday Times claim. Additionally, The Guardian points out the fact that everyday lives are being recorded by cameras, something which causes violent reactions by youths.
In Cardiff, the situation is not much different than the rest of the country. IcWales referred on November 8th 2007 on a survey held by the University of Wales, College of Medicine. According to that, the number of girls between the ages 11-17 being treated in hospital because of violence attacks caused by excessive drinking, rose significantly over the past five years. The number of young men engaging in violent activities rose as well. Both findings were accounted to the greater independence that youths enjoy nowadays.
PC of South Wales, Rhydian Boast said: “Drunk youngsters in the streets are a great problem. They usually gather in front of the Town Hall, causing nuisance and littering the place. Hopefully, the ‘Christmas Wonderland’ will pull them off during Christmas holidays.” He went on saying that a significant number of youths are caught drinking during school hours.
However, Paul Carey from ‘The Western Mail’ interviewed some Welsh students in St’ Cyres school in Penarth and concluded that today’s youth has quality aspirations and ambitions. Most of students, blamed the society’s inability to provide them with outlets to express themselves and wreak their adolescent energy. “There is nothing to do if you are between 16 and 18.” Chris Hampshire said, an ‘A’ level student in biology, chemistry and IT. “Youth clubs are closed at half-term and school holidays, which is just when you want them. If they were there, people would use them. People end up hanging out on the streets and then get a negative image.”
There is no evidence to suggest that today’s youth is any worse than that of their parents’. In contrast, Professor Jonathan Shepherd, of the Violence Research group, stated that violence overall did not increase dramatically over the last ten years. What is required is for the parents to recall their own youth and remember that they have experienced similar pressure. Discuss and find solutions with your children on things that matter them. But then, it’s been a long time since you have had a teenage life.
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