He thinks they're afraid of them. And he says the media reflect and multiplies this fear until young people become caught in a self-reinforcing "loop of disinformation".
"The media is full of people who are older, who get stuff second hand from other sources because they don't want to go down on the street and talk to the young," he explains. "Young people are portrayed badly and that becomes a primary source, instead of a secondary or discredited source, which stays on the cuttings files."
Graef says the Government and Home Secretary David Blunkett's focus on crime reduction and antisocial behaviour legislation above everything else exacerbates the problem.
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