POLICY & PRACTICE: Soapbox - Time for Scotland to start celebratingits young

It didn't surprise me: Scotland in the 21st century dislikes its youth.

Policymakers, journalists, educators, parents and others collude to undermine the natural energy, imagination and exuberance of our young people.

The media does it. We no longer raise an eyebrow at headlines like "Youths terrorise community". The Government does it. Jack McConnell's Scottish Executive has followed the London lead by "getting tough on crime". Not on sex offenders or tax evaders or corrupt accountants; instead 11 million will go to fight youth crime.

The school system does it.The number of young people attaining Standard and Higher qualifications is on the increase. But with every year of better results, there is more scoffing from adults about how the exams are getting easier.

Parents and families do it. It is difficult to imagine that in a Mediterranean country such as Spain or Greece, where children are revered, the Health Education Board would feel it necessary to broadcast TV adverts reminding parents that how they talk to their children will affect them in later life.

All these messages leave a depressing legacy: 33 young men per 100,000 in Scotland took their own lives in 1999 compared with 13 per 100,000 in England. And an estimated 25 per cent of Scottish under-16s suffer from a diagnosable mental health problem.

We need to become a country that celebrates youth rather than one that, at best, struggles to understand it or, at worst, simply tolerates it.

Politicians must stop blaming youth crime on innate badness and examine the causes. Journalists must try actually talking to some of the young people who feature in their stories. Schools and teachers must spend more time on their pupils' emotional wellbeing rather than their performance in charts. And parents must use positive affirmation more often than negative criticism.

Only then will Scotland's next generation be happier, healthier and able to achieve more than their parents' generation.

- Got something to get off your chest? If you work with young people or are a young person with something to say about public policy and services, email stovin.hayter@haynet.com or call 020 8267 4767.