Emergence of youth subculture

• Gain an understanding of the development of youth as a subculture 1950s to present day

Who said it?

A: 'Kids are out of control... They're roaming the streets. They're out late at night.’

B: “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

A: Gordon Brown 2008

B: Plato 4th Century BC

What does this show about our attitude towards youth?

‘Youth’ as a subculture: post WW2: 1950s

• Young people were spending lots of money on fun (entertainment)

• As a response products were being made more and more for youth (music, clothes, etc)

• This annoyed adults who were still in the mind set of rationing as a result of the war.

• This created a divide between adults and young people.

• Adults were wary, but also very envious of the youths carefree attitudes towards life.

• In the 1950s the term ‘teenager’ was coined to label this group.

Emergence of youth subcultures

Teddy boys

Mods and Rockers (1960s)

Punks

Hippies

Acid house/ ravers

Hoodies (contemporary)

This video shows you a glimpse into some of these youth cultureshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kgq0miXxvQ

The changing representation of the ‘hood’ in fiction and non- fiction.

From these and others, we were able to identify the use of the hood as a sign of comfort, protection, religious and academic status but also of disguise, transformation, concealment and violence. Most recently in relation to youth it has often become almost synonymous with criminal behaviour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqyU2z-FJr8

A survey of the content of national and regional newspapers found that out of 6500 stories about teenage boys, over half were about crime and only in one in ten allowed the voice of a young person to be heard in a quote. The language used to describe teenage boys was quite harsh: nearly 600 references to 'yobs', 250 to 'thug' and over 100 to 'sick', with 'feral' and 'hoodie' close behind. There were some positive terms used, such as 'angel', 'altar boy'. 'model student' and 'every mother's perfect son' but these only appeared in relation to boys who had died, either murdered or in accidents.

Representation of youth in newspapers

‘Brainless’

‘Yob’

‘Disgraceful’

For this question you need to understand:

• How media today represent youth in different ways

How these representations differ from those in the past

What effect these representations have onhow young people use the media to form a collective identity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnJ8pPSEW6k

How far identity is increasingly constructedby, through or in response to the media.

Homework: Research presentation

Mods and Rockers

1. Who were/ are they?

2. Where are they from? Location? Socio economic group?

3. What are they known for? Eg fashion? Music? Behaviour?

4. Examples of how they are represented in the media?