7 Common Factors of Representation of Youth

1. Youth are often represented in accordance with popular notions of adolescence.

1. The Annoyance

 Young people gravitate towards ‘annoying’ activities - Loud activities like Skateboarding and generally hanging around outside - often late at night - being disruptive and disturbing 

2. The binge drinker 

Young people all have no self control and go out and get paralytically drunk every weekend. E.G. Skins (Right)

3. The drain on society/Laziness

People believe the reason for the huge youth unemployment figures is that they are lazy and do not want to work. If they were to try as hard as everyone else they could get jobs and become contributing members of society and not 'drains of society'. E.G The constant agenda pushed by the likes of The Daily Mail or an example from a TV show would be the juvenile delinquents in the show Misfits 

4. Anti-Social behaviour/gangs 

All young people are anti-social and even violent. This is pushed by the media saying that young people are commonly involved in things like gang violence, when in fact these people are in the minority. E.G The London Riots 

2. Youth are demonised by the mass media

As previously mentioned, media organisations - particularly right wing organisations - like the Daily Mail push an anti-youth agenda.

3. Youth are represented as being let down by adults

Youth are reportedly let down by adults in multiple ways:

• 'Children let down by poor adult awareness of mental illness' - RCNI.com
• 'Young people are being let down by sex education in schools' - The New Statesman 
• 'Prison system still letting down young adults' - Communitycare.co.uk
• 'Britains young people have been let down by adults who show them only suspicion and negativity' - The Express
• 'Young adults would need to save £33 EVERY DAY for the next 30 years to be as wealthy as their parents' - This is Money.co.uk

4. Youth are represented as being part of sub-cultures 

Young people are all split into 'sub-culture' groups e.g. Jump Street films

Nerds

Nerds

Druggies

Jocks

Goths

5. Alienation - Youth are represented as being excluded from mainstream/adult society

Youth (u18's) are represented as being excluded from adult society in these ways:

• Can't vote
• Can't drink/smoke
• Demonisation by adult media creates in group and out group between young and old, because adults have more power/influence in the world, this results in exclusion of young people

6. Youth are a product of the society that they are born into. They often embody the faults & fears of adult society 

The Wire - The teenagers an a poor urban environment who's parents are often drug addicts or involved in selling drugs, so the kids are involved in this as well.

7. Representations of UK youth are often nostalgic/romanticised

Adults look back fondly at their childhoods, often forgetting the unhappy times they had and focussing just on the good times. Many adults also often tell children/young adults that 'these are the best times of your life' and to 'enjoy them now'. An Example is 'This is England' when the adults tell the kid something along the lines of "you've got nothing to worry about, you're young"