While debate has raged this month over the reliability of Home Office statistics, plenty of adults continue to perceive teenagers as potential muggers. In reality, robbery involves only a small proportion of teenagers.
But there's a danger of this becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, as young people act up to their lawless image.
Nonetheless, when a few young people commit crime, it does affect the rest because others learn from it and come to see it as cool. Worse, the children committing robbery are doing it differently these days. Whereas 20 years ago it was rare for young people to rob adults, now there are far more that are prepared to do so.
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