When looking at the tabloids or watching the news, it is almost impossible not to hear a negative, shocking and worrying story about knife crime, teenage pregnancy, underage drinking or “d) all of the above”. When we look at the media representations of teenagers today, we are presented with an image that is stereotypical, biased and judgemental. The bad light in which teenagers are presented has been around for quite some time and has perhaps overruled and undermined any justification of the idea that teenagers “aren’t all that bad”. When thinking about how kids are depicted and viewed by newspapers, older generations and society in general, I couldn’t help but wonder; are people blinded by the bad, or are we really the blip in society?

When reading a newspaper it is a rare novelty to come across an article entitled “teen scores ten As” or “fundraising event of the year - run by teenage entrepreneur”. So why is that? It may be that people’s view of young people has been warped by bad press and they don’t know what else to think. But this judgement could be claimed as clouded or misinterpreted and many people may argue that teenagers are in fact a huge asset to society and the community.

Ironic isn’t it? That when we do read a story about youths, it never seems to be about their fantastic grades or the fundraising event they organised for charity. So when did people stop believing that teenagers are good and not all bad? It seems to me that the only reason we don’t hear these successful and admirable stories is because they simply don’t sell. Newspapers seem to be under the impression that a positive story about teens isn’t a positive way to gain money. Thus, I urge you to look past the pessimistic views and accounts of teenagers and just think carefully about whether us kids, really are trouble.

By Community Correspondant Leah Prendergast