Misrepresented
“Chavs! Hoodies! Yobs!” insults that you young people are pelted with
everyday, but why? Are we really that bad? Surely, you can’t categorise a
whole generation as being “violent”. Just like lots of other young people, I
have been affected by the way the media misrepresents us. Whether it’s as
small as a consequence as only two children being allowed in a shop or being
pulled over by the police for no apparent reason. I believe that the media
misrepresents and demonises young people, most definitely giving us a bad
name.
CHAV – council housed and violent. NEDS – non-educated delinquents. The
words that define us, but not by choice. Words that are created by the media
to purposefully demonise us. It’s almost as if we have a uniform – hooded
jumpers and jogging bottoms. Apparently the way we dress means we are
going to steal or mug someone on the way home. I find it frightening that
these narrow-minded stereotypes are created by adults, the very people
teenagers are meant to look up to and trust.
What are young people of my generation really like? It seems that we are only
interesting if we are doing something bad. Where are all the documentaries
about the “a students” of the teens getting jobs and making something of their
lives? The small minority of teenagers who behave antisocially should not
define the rest of us. Maybe if we were given the opportunity to be good we
would? A lot of young people think that because the media misrepresents us
that there is nothing out there for them, no future to build, so why should the
try? Why bother if no one will congratulate us for working hard? If people
already think we are ‘evil’, then what are the chances of them changing their
minds? Have they not heard of self-fulfilling prophecies?
There are lots of headlines about what we do wrong, but half of these
headlines contradict each other. For example, according to some papers all
16 year old girls do is run around getting pregnant, but at the same time
newspapers are constantly telling us that the average age of a first-time
mother is now over 30. We would not treat adults in this way, so why treat
adolescents like this? Should we act the way we are treated? Do we even
have a choice?
The fact is that these papers want to sell stories and make money. They are
not interested in what the actual truth is. This has to change! My generation in
the suture: we are the people you adults will have to rely on one day. Yes, of
course, we have our negative qualities, but so does every generation. What
about all the good we have done?
To all the adults that constantly slag us off, think about when you have kids (if
you don’t already). They are suffering from the same misrepresentation that
we suffer from all day every day. I say this again – this has to change so that
my generation can actually believe in themselves and believe that they are
capable of creating a better future for themselves. After all, we are the future
so show us some respect.