Battle of Ideas: Scared of the Kids

Speakers:
Prof. Adam Crawford
Dr Stuart Wilson
Mark Easton
Kit Malthouse

Chair:
Maria Grasso


We are regularly told Britain is in the grip of gun and knife culture and gang warfare, with young people in particular both committing violent crime, and suffering as victims of it. More generally, 'teenage antisocial behaviour' is often portrayed as one of the greatest problems afflicting the nation. Young people's drinking habits are increasingly understood as a social problem today, and the government has announced it will crack down not just on underage drinking, but also 18-24 year-olds' drunken behaviour.

But, statistically, violent crime is falling, and surely young people have always misbehaved: only rarely has their behaviour been interpreted as a serious threat to society. Do concerns about youth crime and antisocial behaviour reflect a breakdown of respect and discipline, or are we in the grip of a moral panic? Are liberal critics blind to the harsh realities of crime and disorder? Either way, there seems to be a problem with adult authority. Have we lost the confidence to tell young people what's right and wrong?

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  News & Politics