80% of Crime in the UK committed by Teenagers!

Well... that's what most adults believe it seems!  An excellent programme on Channel 4 made by a young journalist called "Teens in Trouble" has been looking at the myth of rising Teen crime etc. All the adults he surveyed believed that between 70 and 90% of crime in the UK was committed by Teenagers. 

He argues that the media likes a good story about "feral teens" and out of control teenagers & claims that the press is the problem, creating fear, stereotypes and barriers... In the programme he interviewed Mods from the 60's who where witness to the way the Media made the most of the fighting even then... "journalists" paid teenagers to stage fights for the cameras.  And nothing has changed, the media likes easy targets!  The programme goes on to try to challenge the stereotypes, even getting a bunch of "hoodies" handing out Tea to passers by.

So what are the real stats not reported by the Press... well firstly you have pretty much the same chance of dying from falling out of Bed than you have of dying from a Knife attack... and you are SIX times MORE likely to die from falling down the stairs!  And the actually percentage of the crime committed by teenagers in the UK...

....12%!

Technorati Tags: Culture: Media: Youth Work