The Kids Are Alright

The majority of young people live crime free lives and many make a positive contribution to their communities.

The Kids Are Alright campaign challenges what people think about youth crime and antisocial behaviour by highlighting the positive contributions young people make in their communities.

Partners in the City are working together to challenge your perceptions of young people in Plymouth and to show you how safe Plymouth really is.

Each week we are confronted with images of out of control youths – even ‘feral youths’.  However, the chance of being the victim of youth crime is very low.  In fact, nationally, only 7% of youth are responsible for 83% of youth crime.  The rate of offending hasn’t risen since 2001.

In 2007, 54% of Plymouth residents surveyed believed teenagers hanging around street corners to be a problem.  In addition, 43 out of 43 Neighbourhoods identified Anti-Social Behaviour as one of the three Partners And Communities Together (PACT) priorities.

Research by the charity Catch 22 shows that two thirds (64 per cent) of adults in Britain overestimate the number of young people involved in crime. Furthermore, one in 10 of the adults questioned over-estimated youth crime by a staggering eight times, effectively labeling two in every five teenagers a criminal.

The research also found that 40 per cent of British adults thought teenagers had a predominantly negative impact on their community. Only 7 per cent associated young people with volunteering. Yet the latest figures show just under half of all teenagers (48 per cent) have volunteered in their communities.

Place Survey (2009) has found that there has been a reduction (by 11%) in the number of Plymouth residents who see teenagers hanging around on street corners to be a problem.

We want you to join us in celebrating young people’s achievements and that:

‘The Kids Are Alright’

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