British teenagers are 'worst behaved' in Europe

[mc_squared]

British teenagers are 'worst behaved' in Europe

By LAURA ROBERTS Last updated at 22:00pm on 2nd November 2006

British teenagers are the worst behaved in Europe, according to new research. Fifteen-year-olds in the UK are more likely to get drunk, act aggressively and be sexually active than their peers on the continent.


The statistics collected by the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), Tony Blair's favourite think-tank, will be presented in a report to the Government next week.
It will state that 27 per cent of British teens are regularly drunk, the highest in Europe. That compares with just three per cent of French teenagers and five per cent in Italy.
British teenagers are also the most aggressive with 44 per cent having been involved in a fight in the last year.
German teenagers are the least aggressive with 28 per cent involved in some sort of fracas over the last year.
With the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe Britain is also the most sexually active. In France only 22 per cent of teens have had sex compared with 38 per cent in the UK.
Researchers claim teenagers in Britain are more out of control because they have less contact with adults, particularly parents, than in the rest of Europe.
Nick Pearce, director of the IPPR, said that our teens are "disconnected" from adults around them. As a result they lack the "soft social skills" displayed by teens in Europe who spend more time in the company of adults.
Teens from traditional nuclear families are more likely to succeed and avoid trouble than teens from single parent unit or even families where the parents cohabit.
British teens spend less time in the company of parents and other adults due to cultural differences compared to the continent. Whereas Italian, French or German teenagers eat regularly with their families and spend more time in mixed-age company British children are left to their own devices and often eat at separate times to adults.
In Italy only seven per cent of 15-year-olds don't eat regularly with their parents whereas that figure is 36 per cent in the UK. In contrast 45 per cent of teens in England, and 59 per cent in Scotland, are out with friends every night.
As a result teenagers socialise with other children their age but miss out on developing the social skills acquired when spending time with adults. Structured activities organised by adilts such as scouts groups or drama societies, which were popular in the 1950s, are now shunned by teenagers in favour of hanging out in youth clubs.
The researchers say that children who spend less time with their parents are more likely to commit antisocial behaviour.
The spokesman added: "Children from a nuclear family are on average more likely to succeed according to statistics. What matters is what happens within the family. It's about being interested in their education and in talking to their children."
The report says that changes in the family, local communities and the economy have combined to cause "deep inequalities in the transition to modern adult life and leave increasing numbers of young people incapable of growing up safely and successfully".
Now it seems that teenagers don't need time with their friends but time with adults. A spokesman for IPPR said: "There is nothing genetically different about British teens to make them behave like this. They need more structured time in the company of adults, working towards a goal in order to pick up these skills."
The report also shows that participation in structured youth activities is better for young people than unstructured youth clubs. It suggests that activities like the Scouts or drama groups are beneficial for teaching children to interact with adults.

[Petit Prince]

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Originally Posted by mc_squared

The report also shows that participation in structured youth activities is better for young people than unstructured youth clubs. It suggests that activities like the Scouts or drama groups are beneficial for teaching children to interact with adults.

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at least there are many places young people can go. i mean when i think about where i lived there werent any youth clubs where you could go after school. they were only opened at the weekend and friday night. when i worked for a youth club in liverpool i realised how important they are for kids over there. they usually came after school at about four o'clock and stayed till late. most of them kids grew up with a single mother and their mum works all day, so its understandable that they dont go home after school.

[Grace]

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Originally Posted by mc_squared
German teenagers are the least aggressive with 28 per cent involved in some sort of fracas over the last year.

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that is nice

[Bournerlin]

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Originally Posted by mc_squared
British teenagers are 'worst behaved' in Europe

German teenagers eat regularly with their families and spend more time in mixed-age company British children are left to their own devices and often eat at separate times to adults.
The researchers say that children who spend less time with their parents are more likely to commit antisocial behaviour.

"There is nothing genetically different about British teens to make them behave like this. They need more structured time in the company of adults, working towards a goal in order to pick up these skills."

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Bullshit what they report about German teenagers....when say don't have prospects for their future, they are also agressive and you can believe me they also drink a lot of alcohol and they love to be drunken...I hate these comparisons Teens in this times are all the same....

[Ondes Martenot]

good thread

and what about British football fans? they are even worse

[anniep_93]

Not all teens are the same. Depends on the individual.

[mc_squared]

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Originally Posted by anniep_93
Not all teens are the same. Depends on the individual.

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Of course - but Britain seems to have more yobs percentage-wise.

[mc_squared]

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Originally Posted by Bournerlin
Bullshit what they report about German teenagers....when say don't have prospects for their future, they are also agressive and you can believe me they also drink a lot of alcohol and they love to be drunken...I hate these comparisons Teens in this times are all the same....

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Well I can't comment on how things are in Berlin, but as far as I can tell, the majority of German teenagers don't have the same "aggression" problem, even when they're drunk.

[mc_squared]

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Originally Posted by Ondes Martenot
good thread

and what about British football fans? they are even worse

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They are part and parcel of the same problem. However, in terms of football, the majority of countries have hooligans.

[busybeeburns]

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Originally Posted by mc_squared
British teenagers are the worst behaved in Europe, according to new research. Fifteen-year-olds in the UK are more likely to get drunk, act aggressively and be sexually active than their peers on the continent.

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I'd throw the lot of them on the bonfire this year. But it won't be much good as virtual reality screens propped on scaffolding isn't like the real thing