YES - Carola Adams, youth work, resources and information manager, UK Youth
I would have to say yes, depending on what we mean by "prolific" and "criminal". And what a shame the research and media choose to spice things up by deliberately mixing grave and relatively minor offences. While not condoning any criminal act, we need to start with reality: the bragging and bravado; the jostling and positioning. As every youth worker knows, young people have always chosen the public arena to test boundaries and gain social skills.
Wouldn't it be strange if relatively minor offences were not committed in this highly charged atmosphere? There are other reasons to be wary of this survey. It deliberately focuses on young people - who make up almost half the sample, interestingly drawn from private homes - so hindering a fuller comparison across all ages.
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