By Guest
Seun Kolade is a maths and science teacher at Community Links’ school for students excluded from mainstream education.
If you have been following what the media – electronic and print – is saying about young people, you would think a band of dangerous aliens have invaded planet earth, and the security alert is constantly set at ‘critical’. Such is the pervasive negativity flying about today, and the real victims are the young people themselves, especially those from low income backgrounds. The radius of negative publicity extends to low income people in general, and the tragic reality is that the negative stories, sensationalised as they are, sell. And the stories are pushed with such frequency and intensity that in time they pass as established facts.
Now let’s get this clear: young people, and people from low income families, have their own fair share of problems and difficulties, and such problems can be quite detrimental to their social and emotional well-being, and the community also takes some toll. But wait a moment: are adults really exempt from social and emotional difficulties? Or is it the rich and economically secure who are immune to emotional troubles? Why focus on the young and the poor? They are easy targets, of course, with virtually no voice to defend their cause.
More often than not, the problem with media portrayals of the young and poor is not outright falsity but unwarranted sensationalism. It may not be totally untrue that some young people (from poor family) resort to violence to vent their anger and frustration. However, when this story is sensationalised to the point of stereotyping, it becomes worse than outright lie, because an outright lie is much easier to discredit with minimal rigour. The complete picture, cynically ignored by the media, is that, for every violent youth, there are probably a hundred or more who would handle their frustration more constructively and productively. In fact, there are arguably many more young people who will act to stop violence than those who would act to perpetrate it. More positively, for every violent act by a youngster, there are probably a thousand ones who have done some significant acts of kindness. Where is the publicity for these ‘unsung heroes’? The bad and the ugly are the ones who seem to look great on the tabloids.
Which brings us to the final point- the low expectation for the young and poor being promoted in the media with such patronising earnestness. In terms of moral conduct and educational and career attainment, the expectation level is set very low in the belief that they are incapable of the discipline and effort required for high flyers. Now, on the other hand, perhaps in the effort not to appear patronising, apparently to motivate academic success, they then often push the equally wrong-headed misinformation that talents that are less academic are less important, as though our lives would be much better if we have more doctors and lawyers and less plumbers and electricians. Academically able youngsters- young or poor- should be encouraged and supported to attain their very best, so should aspiring artisans. Society always need the best, be they scientists or plumbers, and young people should be motivated to attain their very best, not the minimum, in their chosen careers.
Let’s hope someone in the media is listening.
[...] as nobly struggling, while those of the present are seen as feckless scroungers. And young people often get a particularly raw deal in the [...]