"What you(th) lookin at?"

Youth. Immediately connotations arise of a ‘hoody’ robbing a supermarket or mugging an elderly couple. A word that used to mean innocent and young is now the word thrown around to describe teenagers with ASBOs. So what is this ‘youth culture’ we so often hear about today? According to most news stories it is a young male in a tracksuit, hood up, wielding a knife ready to stab up the next innocent passer by for their phone and wallet.

You will rarely see a teenager reported on without the phrase ASBO close by. It’s no wonder that elderly people are scared to walk the streets and it’s not necessarily because they have something to worry about, it’s the infatuation the media has with giving young people bad press.

Surely youth culture should incorporate much more than what is reported like the new music scenes, fashion and the fact that education levels are a lot higher today. Older people should not try and ‘be down’ with the youngsters and equally should not constantly snub and detest them; instead they should be looking at the reasons why a small minority of young people do commit crimes. Embrace the young, we're the future.