THE ACTIONS OF A FEW DO NOT REFLECT ALL TEENS

TEENAGERS are reckless, impulsive and out of control, right?

To my dismay, they seem to have acquired a horrendous reputation due to heinous actions committed by a few.

More often than not, teenagers are perceived as dramatic and immature, and told they are incapable of making their own decisions from a young age.

And it would seem that the media is more focused on reporting the actions of a small percentage of young criminals, and this adds to the perception.

As a teenager, I am disappointed that my friends, siblings, peers and also myself, can be potentially viewed negatively by our community because of the constant focus on recidivist youth offenders in the media.

The TB article ‘Six carjackers on the run after woman threatened with knife’ (11/10) a group of teenagers are described as violent and perceived as dangerous and threatening.

Such articles, and those similar may cause people to make snap judgments about us, collectively.

There are hundreds of determinants that result in young people turning to crime, such as being raised in an unhealthy environment of neglect and abuse, witnessing terrible acts or even peer pressure, that are rarely spoken about in the media when reporting acts of youth crime.

Of course this is no excuse for their behaviour, however, by not addressing these factors in media reports, it is possible that some readers may view all teenagers as reckless, impulsive and out of control.

They are not. Please remember that the actions of a few do not reflect us all.

SARAH GIUFFRIDA, Condon.