I'm not quite sure why, (perhaps its something that's always happened but that's only in the news now) but there's been a noticeable amount teen violence in the media recently. Its true, teen subcultures have fought each other before - Mods & Rockers as an example - but its a more global issue than i'd previously assumed.
The tragic death of Sophie Lancaster, killed trying to protect her boyfriend after they were attacked because of their appearance, seems to have opened my eyes to the wide range of news stories where the words 'teenagers' and 'violence' are unfortunately linked.
Its clear that i've been naive. Teenagers, by their very nature, are emotionally charged. But its when this energy is spent fostering hate and encouraging violence against others that we have to sit up and take notice. Today the BBC's News Front pages show no trace of yesterday's verdict against Sophie's killers. Instead the main headlines concerning teenagers are as follows:
All this is bad enough, a sad state of affairs which can only harm the public standing of young people, but then you read about this:
Anti-Emo Riots Break Out Across Mexico
I can't honestly say I've ever properly belonged to any subculture, but reading that article still makes me feel sick. If teenagers are acting like this across the world, then where is the hope for the future of civilised society?
I know that this sound melodramatic, but when people my age think they've got nothing better to do than beat up others our age, then I wonder where this leaves the number of us that actually care about important things. Y'know not stuff like what people choose to wear or what music they like but things like the massive war thats still going on in the Middle East, global warming, poverty, starvation and so on.
Just a thought.
P.S
Do a little bit of good:
Oxfam
WaterAid
Save the Children
Give someone some free rice.
P.P.S
This was going to have a bit about the great movies out as summer rolls in. But its just not important in comparison. Perhaps I'll feel like it later.
