What Do You See?

What do you see when you look at the picture of me above with my face covered? Do you see a young person out to cause trouble? Chances are that most adults would think negatively.It is actually a picture of me at Occupy St.Paul's with another protestor.  In Dr Rowan Williams', the Archbishop of Canterbury, New Year message he said, 'There is a national habit of being suspicious and hostile when we see groups of youngsters'.  This happens particularly when a group of boys are hanging out. The stereotyping of young people is a common problem.

As a young person, I feel that children are often ignored for so many reasons. Firstly, the riots of 2011 did nothing to help the youth's case. A group of silly, unruly youngsters caused damage that went  beyond wrecking property.  It also ruined the case for those young people who are genuinely wanting to try in life. Youth are being tarred with the brush of the riots.  We need to be able to recognise that the youngsters who took part in the riots do not represent the majority of us.

There are over a Million youth unemployed. As the Archbishop said, 'what kind of society is it that lets down so many of its' young people?'. In the pool of unemployed youth lies disappointment and torn dreams. What happened to the social promise of reward for working hard? I am not talking about a sense of entitlement here. I am talking about normal things that people should be able to expect.

My New Year request is for the Government to improve the situation of young people. Children are often used in political arguments. As an example, the country's deficit is being tackled so that the children of today will not be saddled with it in the future. This is noble but children of today need attention today.