Back to the Future. [23rd March 2009]

[23rd March 2009]

Church of England Article - February 2009

“35 Million Yob Crimes a Year” screamed an exaggerated Daily Express headline last week.

Rarely do the press miss an opportunity to report the latest example of antisocial behaviour amongst Britain’s youth. Indeed, for as long as I can remember, the media has focused more on the problems with young people than the positives.

Society is constantly bombarded with words and images that detail the transgression of today’s youth. We are shown a world of knife-crime, mugging, binge drinking and drug taking.

According to a recent poll commissioned by Barnardo’s, more than half of the adult respondents (53 per cent) said that children were beginning to “behave like animals”. Even more shockingly, 45 per cent now refer to children as “feral”.

In reality, according to the British Crime Survey, it is actually adults who are responsible for 88 per cent of criminal activity.

Last week, The Good Childhood Inquiry reported that children in the UK are more unhappy than their European counterparts. The report concludes that this, and bad behaviour amongst UK children, stems from “excessive adult individualism”.

The Bible tells us that we – adults and children – are all equal in the eyes of God: “we are the children of God…joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:16,17).

I truly believe that nurturing is as important as discipline when raising a child. Being a father of three children, I know that young people learn by example. They have a lot to offer if they receive the right encouragement and guidance. We, as adults, can learn from young people as much as they can learn from us.

It frustrates me that the press rarely praises young people. With this in mind, I founded the Warwick Leadership Foundation to alter this negative perception. My charity gives young people positive role models to follow and helps empower them as individuals.

I have found many examples which challenge the pessimistic image of young people. For instance, few of us know that 200,000 young people aged between 16 and 25 are participating in 130 community service volunteer projects across England.

Recently, I had the privilege of chairing the United Kingdom Youth Parliament Debate at the British Museum. I was not sure what to expect when I arrived. There were over 200 young people aged 15-18 from all over the country.

It became immediately clear that they are passionate about issues. I was impressed by their enthusiasm and the standard of argument. They debated without name calling or other bad behaviour. This is something that many adult politicians and public figures could learn from!

The audience was very welcoming towards me and this helped me to chair the debate. The theme of the debate questioned whether experience was more important than youthful energy.

There was one contributor that made a significant impression. She was a 17 year old girl. She only made one intervention. In a quiet voice she said that she was not an expert in politics (who is?!) but she felt that she had some experience of life.

She paused and added that for the last few years she had been the main carer for her bed ridden mother.

Her contribution was short, but powerful. This girl’s situation is one that many adults would find hard to accept – a lot of us would be tempted to shirk our familial responsibility and expect the State to accept responsibility for our ageing parents.

Sadly, all too few of us pay attention to the line in Proverbs: “Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.” (Proverbs 23:22 )

Yet this young girl was not complaining. She was a willing carer and accepted her situation. She approached her future with an optimism that was inspiring. Her experience of being a carer will give her an insight into Life’s difficulties that many of us do not have. It will be interesting to see how that young woman’s career develops.

I left the event with hope for our future. There is presently disillusionment about politicians and public figures. But on the evidence of this event, our future lies in better hands. As it says in Isaiah: “and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6)

John Taylor.

Lord Taylor of Warwick.