[Cross-posted from The Mushkush Miscellany]

I know, I know: polls are a clumsy method of judging public opinion, and so much depends on the wording, but I'm still going to bite this one. According to Barnados, 54% of British adults reckoned children are behaving like "animals" (only 42% in Scotland, we win again) who "infest" the streets, and that children are responsible for "up to half of all crime" (actually only 12%, and according to victim support, fewer that 1.5% of criminals are y00f). Worst of all, almost half of folk disagree/em> with the statement that children who get into trouble are often misunderstood and in need of professional help.

This follows on last months UN report that the Committee on the Rights of the Child is "concerned at the general climate of intolerance and negative public attitudes towards children, especially adolescents, which appears to exist in the UK, including in the media, and may be often the underlying cause of further infringements of their rights".

My theory is that, much like the demonisation of immigrants, it's a combination of tabloid driven hysteria backed up by government complicity who encourage the idea that children are irredeemably, and must be locked up and punished with their asbos and their focus on knife crime. It jars with the crocodile tears every time a child is stabbed, shot, abducted. How many gave money to Children in Need on Friday who in the next breath will be condemning the same deprived kids they are giving money to help. The same ones who'll get programmes that actually help children, help prevent reoffending, shut down for being soft on crime.

Angry, much?

I don't get it. I don't get this propensity for dehumanising and criminalising entire chunks of the human species - folk do the same with race, sexuality, religion, immigrants and now youth. But youth especially, the idea that they are a lost cause, that they are less than human (rather than being pockets of potential), is so depressing. Science has shown that the same 54% have never been young, would never have done anything obnoxious, never made any stupid stupid mistakes if they had ever been young, and have lived sainted lives. The adult population of this country positively glow with benevolence. We're a like a nation of Barack Obamas - it won't matter when the water levels rise, we'll just fucking walk on water.

Of course, I'm naive, still polluted by the heady idealism that people are generally alright, and there's a small proportion of troublemakers that "cause trouble" for a range of reasons (some of them are good reasons) and an even smaller proportion of people who are just mental and will never be able to function on a social level at all. And that applies to any group of people, include the y00f.

I don't get gross generalisations, let alone ones that describe children as animals, rather than just children.

Has it been ever thus? I'm sure cultural misanthropy is a fairly new phenomenon, this total loss of faith in humanity. Just because it's easy, I'm going to blame Thatcher.

I don't remember being aware of how The Young Folk were perceived when I was one of them. I remember that 'schemies' were looked on in much the same way 'neds' or 'chavs' are looked on now - a semi-class based fear/hatred of apparent no prospects, no hope, no respect young folk with nothing to do but drink bucky, smoke fat blunts and get into fights. But it does seem that the fear of youth is on a much greater scale these days. I don't read tabloids, is it their fault, again?

The worst of it is that I know I exhibit symptoms myself. But I'm trying.

Seen in The Herald and their Editorial.