Fewer than three out of every 100 youngsters ever become a nuisance - but it seems the well-behaved majority are tarred with the same brush as the troublemakers.
Last year some 230 South Holland youngsters engaged in acts of anti-social behaviour – but this is only 2.3 per cent of the district’s 10,000-strong population of young people aged from 10 to 18 years.
South Holland Youth Council member Alicia Tibbs said: “The media portray teenagers as a lot worse than they really are and we want a chance to defend ourselves and to be given a chance to speak.
“We can’t deny the fact that some teenagers do cause damage, but this is a minority and why should it condemn the rest of us?”
Alicia (16) is concerned about adults forming negative opinions of teenagers because of the clothes they wear – such as hoodies – or because they hang around on street corners.
She said: “For some, a group of teenagers on a street corner hanging out is seen as anti-social, but they are not doing anything wrong – they’re just seeing their friends and, surely, this is sociable behaviour.”
South Holland Youth Council was joined by pupils from Spalding Grammar School and Spalding High School for a live webcast debate on anti-social behaviour.
Youth Council members are now keen to do media interviews to spread the message that the majority of young people are good and well behaved.
