Hello, my name's Ms. Wyatt and I am so pleased that you could join us here for today's lesson.

Welcome to today's lesson on, is the media representing the reality of youth crime? From the unit, what is crime? By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain what youth crime is, analyse how it is portrayed in the media, and identify the impact this can have.

For today's lesson, we need to lay out some ground rules due to the sensitivity of the topic.

Laura says that it's important "to listen to others." "It is okay to disagree with each other, but we should listen properly before making assumptions or deciding how to respond.

When disagreeing, challenge the statement not the person." And that's a really good point from Laura, is not to challenge the person and not to take it personal, but if you don't agree with what they're saying, do challenge it but in an appropriate way.

Make sure you have listened to them first.

Andeep says, "Respect privacy.

We can discuss examples but do not use names or descriptions that identify anyone, including ourselves." Jacob says, "No judgement.

We can explore beliefs and misunderstandings about a topic without the fear of being judged." And Izzy says, "Choose level of participation.

Everyone has the right to choose not to answer a question or join discussion.

We never put anyone on the spot." So I think if we take in consideration Laura, Andeep, Jacob and Izzy's ground rules, this will be a really successful lesson.

But please note, as I have mentioned, that we will try our best to follow these ground rules due to the sensitivity of the topic.

We have some key words in today's lesson and they are: youth crime, media, and impact.

Youth crime is defined as crimes committed by people above the age of criminal responsibility, but under the age of 18.

Media is the different ways we share and receive information on a large scale.

This includes things like television, radio, newspapers, and the internet.

An impact is a strong effect or influence something has on a person, group, or situation.

So maybe some of these keywords are new to you today, but please don't worry as we will be referring to them quite a lot in our lesson.

Our lesson is broken into three parts today.

The first part, we're going to start exploring what is youth crime? Who is legally responsible for their actions? In England's, Northern Ireland and Wales, the age of criminal responsibility is 10.

In Scotland it is 12.

This means, in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales, when you reach the age of 10, you can be held criminally responsible.

In Scotland, it's age 12.

Information about youth crime goes from these ages up until the age of 17.

Once someone turns 18, they are considered to be an adult.

So in England it's 10 till 17.

Once they become 18, they are considered to be an adult.

How do you think the justice system deals with youth crime differently to crimes committed by adults? Have a little think about that question, just quickly.

So do you think the justice system deals with youths and youth crime differently to crimes committed by adults? So remember, up to the age of 17 is youth crime.

For example, if the police arrest someone under 18, they must notify a parent or guardian and not interview them until an independent adult is present.

Someone under 18 is treated differently by the courts.

For example, they are less likely to be given a custodial sentence.

This means they are less likely to be given a court imposed period of imprisonment for a serious offence.

If someone under eighteen's crime is serious enough to warrant a custodial sentence, they will be sent to a secure centre, not an adult prison.

So there's some examples of how the justice system deals with youths in comparison to adults.

So true or false? The age of criminal responsibility in England is 12.

Is that true or is it false? Can you remember what we said? Hopefully remembered that it is false.

It's false because the age of criminal responsibility in England, Northern Ireland and Wales is 10 and it is 12 in Scotland.

Well done if you got that correct.

The youth justice system in England and Wales is different from the adult system.

It was established through the Crime and Disorder Act of 1998 and aims to prevent young people from both committing crimes or re-offending, which means they'll do the crime again.

It is designed to support the needs of children.

According to government statistics, for the year ending March 2023, stop and searches of children increased by 13%.

Over three quarters of these resorted in no further action.

Arrests increased by 9%; however, they remain lower than pre-pandemic levels, which I find really interesting.

There was an average of 440 children in custody at any time; a fall of 3%.

And re-offending rates increased by 0.

9%, the first increase since March 2014.

So it does mean that those children that are offending are re-offending or 0.

9% of those are re-offending.

According to the same government data, in the year ending March 2023, the police recorded 6,738,868 crimes.

That is a lot of crime.

59,045 children were arrested.

16,589 children were taken to court.

5,014 children were given cautions, so like a warning.

11,911 sentences were given to children, and 544 were custodial.

So which of the following statements are true? Is it A: youth crime in England and Wales has completely stopped? Is it B: the number of children in custody has increased since 2014? Is it C: arrests of children are lower than pre-pandemic levels? Or is it D: over three quarters of stop and searches of children led to further action? Pause the video and think which of the statements are true.

Okay, well done everyone.

So, we should have said C, arrests of children are lower than pre-pandemic levels.

So before the pandemic, arrests of children were much more common.

Well done if you remembered that.

So we're gonna have a go at this task now.

So it says the Oak National Academy pupils have been explaining what they know about youth crime.

However, they have got a bit confused.

Correct their misconceptions.

So we're gonna read through Alex, Aisha's and Jun's misconceptions about youth crime, and we're gonna have a go at correcting them.

So Alex says, "If the police arrest someone under 18, they can interview them straight away without needing to inform a parent or guardian." Hmm.

Aisha says, "The youth justice system treats young people the same as adults because they should be punished in the same way." And Jun says, "Youth crime information refers to crimes committed by children aged between 10 and 15." So Alex, Aisha and Jun have been trying to explain to us what they know about youth crime, but they have got a little bit confused.

So we're gonna pause the video.

We're gonna read back through Alex, Aisha's, and Jun's explanations, and we're gonna have a go at correcting them.

Good luck.

Okay.

Hopefully we had a good go at trying to correct their explanations about youth crime.

So if we were to correct Alex's, we should have figured out that he should have said, "If the police arrest someone under 18, they cannot interview them without an independent adult present." I wondered if we got that right.

Aisha's, "The youth justice system treats young people differently to adults.

It focuses on supporting the needs of children and preventing re-offending." So it doesn't treat adults and children the same.

And Jun, "Youth crime information refers to crimes committed by children age between 10 and 17," not 10 and 15.

So well done if you spotted those misconceptions.

We have now looked at what is youth crime, and we're going to go onto the second part of our lesson, which is, how does the media portray youth crime? So how does it show youth crime? There are some examples of headlines that I'm going to display to you.

This one says, "Britain's blackspots where there is a criminal in every classroom," and that was from 2010.

"Rising youth crime reflects wider societal problems." "As we come out of lockdown and return to normality, youth violence could intensify once again." So there's just a few.

I'm gonna show you some more now.

"Hunting zombie knives in a city plagued by violence." That was in 2024.

"Mayor of London invest 2 million pounds for activities to reduce youth crime." Again in 2024.

"An epidemic of knife crime in schools - one weapon is seized every day." And that was in 2019.

So hopefully we're starting to see how the media portrays youth crime.

So our question to you is, what impression does this give you of youth crime? From just reading these headlines, you might have never really picked up on the fact that youth crime is represented in the media and perhaps if it's portrayed in a certain way.

But from just reading these headlines, what impression does this give you and how does it compare to the statistics from earlier? Newspapers and media sources tend to use emotive language.

They want to make you feel something about the story.

Can you spot any of our examples? So from our examples, there was some emotive language used, and this is because they want you to be hooked by it.

They want you to feel a certain way when you read these stories in these headlines.

So, we got "Britain's blackspots where there is a criminal in every classroom." So, the media is saying that in your classroom right now where you are, there is a criminal.

Then we've got "Rising youth crime reflects wider societal problems." So it's a problem.

They're portraying here that it's a problem.

And, "As we come out of lockdown and return to normality, youth violence could intensify once again." If you think about these words, especially the word intensify, and problems, and criminal, what kind of impression is that given us so far? The charity called Nacro released a report in 2024 that said "media coverage of young people is twice as likely to be negative, 28%, as it is to be positive, and 14%." What impact could this have? What could be the impact of media coverage being twice as likely negative to be positive? What impact is this going to have? Alex says, "It feels like it puts extra pressure on young people.

The media never report the good we do, just the bad." I wonder if you've ever noticed that.

Jun says, "Negative news stories can make adults more suspicious or fearful of teenagers, reinforcing harmful stereotypes about youth." So let's track our understanding so far.

What impact might the media have if they focus on negative stories around youth crime? Is it, it can help the public understand what young people are really like? Is it, it could make people think all young people are troublemakers, reinforcing negative stereotypes? Or is it, it shows how well young people are doing in society and the impact they can have? From what we've seen so far, what impact might the media have if they focus on negative stories around youth crime? Pause the video and make your choice.

So we should have said B.

It could make people think that all young people are troublemakers, and therefore reinforce these negative stereotypes of youths and children age 10 to 17.

Other countries around the globe report similar trends.

For example: Child Trends, a research organisation in the United States reported that "between 2019 and 2021, media coverage of youth crime increased despite youth arrest falling." So where is the correlation between that? Is it true or false? Media coverage of youth crime fell in the United States between 2019 and 2021? Is it true or is it false? We should have remembered that it is false.

According to the research organisation, Child Trends, it did increase.

So media coverage increased even though youth arrest rates fell.

Alex is part of a local youth group.

They're trying to raise awareness in the local area about the impact that media coverage of youth crime can have.

Help him to plan his campaign.

So, we might want to think about the following questions.

So what do we know about youth crime statistics? There's been lots of statistics within this lesson.

There's some quite big and shocking ones.

How does the media tend to portray youth crime? And what impact might this have? What impact is it gonna have on society? What impact is it gonna have on children aged 10 to 17? What impact is it gonna have on stereotypes? So, we're gonna help Alex plan his campaign, okay? But we're gonna answer these questions and that will help him to do so.

So pause the video, have a read back through these questions and have a go at answering them.

This will then help Alex plan his campaign.

Well done everybody.

So if we look at the following questions, we had, what do we know about youth crime statistics? So hopefully we remembered some.

You might have included some of the similar answers as we did.

So, recent data on youth crime presents a mixed picture.

While stop and searches of children increased by 13%, over three quarters of them resorted in no further action.

Arrests rose by 9%, but remain lower than pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, the number of children in custody has fallen by 3%, with an average of 440 children in custody at any time.

So I wonder if we managed to remember any of those statistics.

Well done if you did.

Then we had, how does the media tend to portray youth crime? The media often uses negative, fear-driven headlines like 'Epidemic of knife crime in schools' or 'Criminal in every classroom' to create panic.

These stories focus on the bad while ignoring the positive actions of young people.

As a result, they can make it seem like all teenagers are involved in crime, even though most are not.

And what impact can this have? This was our final question.

The media's negative portrayal of youth crime could lead to harmful effects.

We could have unfair stereotypes.

It creates stereotypes of young people as criminals leading to prejudice and discrimination, which is absolutely not what we want.

Increased fear: it can make adults more suspicious of teenagers, eroding trust and making people feel safe.

Increased fear: it can make adults more suspicious of teenagers, eroding trust and making young people feel unsafe.

Pressure on youth: constant crime coverage can make young people feel unfairly judged even when they're innocent.

And mental health impact: negative media portrayal can harm self-esteem, making young people feel like they're always seen as the problem.

So, well done if we managed to think about the different types of impact that this could have and that it could lead to some harmful effects.

We are now gonna look at how can we improve the media's portrayal? Pupils at Oak National Academy want to take action to improve the media's portrayal of youth crime.

Alex says, "We think that the media portrays young people more negatively than positively.

We think this leads to the public having an unbalanced perception of behaviour and attitudes of young people." Jun says, "Negative media reporting of youth crime causes a greater fear of the issue than the actual reality of the reported problem and enhances stereotyping.

And an imbalanced negative portrayal of young people in the media has a damaging effect on young people and the community in which they live." So what is one possible effect of the negative portrayal of youth crime in the media? Is it A: it helps people understand the reality of youth crime? Is it B: it leads to a greater fear of youth crime than the reality? Is it C: it makes young people feel more confident and proud? Or is it D: it improves the relationship between young people and adults? Pause the video and pick.

What is one possible effect of the negative portrayal of youth crime in the media? Hopefully you manage to pick out B.

It does lead to a greater fear of youth crimes than actual reality and what is actually happening.

What actions could Oak National Academy pupils take to stop negative views of young people and tackle existing negative views? So, we have some pupils here at Oak National Academy and can you think what actions could they do to try and stop this negative existing view? Well, the Hertsmere Young Researchers came up with five ideas.

They said they could petition.

Get loads of signatures.

To sign something.

Create an event.

They could campaign.

Perhaps raise awareness about it as well.

Create your own news source and use the media.

Can you think of any others? Any other actions they could use to try and tackle this existing negative view? Let's check our understanding then.

The Hertsmere Young Researchers came up with five ideas, but which one is missing from this list? We've got petition, we've got create an event, we've got campaign, we've got use the media, but which one's missing? Can you remember what else was on that list? Okay, Jun says, "The fifth idea they came up with is to create your own news source.

So maybe we should try that." So Jun says, "We've decided to take action.

We're going to write a positive story that tackles the negative stories about young people in the media." So we're going to help the Oak National Academy pupils get started by writing them a headline and first paragraph for an article that aims to improve the media's portrayal around youth crime.

So we want to take action now, okay? And we're gonna help the Oak National Academy pupils to do this.

So, we are gonna come up with a headline and a first paragraph for an article that aims to improve the media's portrayal around youth crime.

So give it a boost.

Write a positive story.

So pause the video and have a go at writing the first paragraph and the headline to this positive story.

Good luck and have fun.

Well done everyone.

Tremendous efforts.

So, we may have included some of the following that we have, and if we haven't, please don't worry, 'cause we all have different ideas, and this is the brilliant thing about these lessons.

That we have so many different ideas.

So, we might have included something like this.

So I've said, "Youth crime isn't the whole story.

Let's focus on the positive!" So we started with, "The media often paints a picture of young people as criminals, but the truth is much more positive.

While headlines about youth crime can be alarming, recent statistics show that most young people are not involved in crime.

In fact, the number of children in custody has fallen by 3% and three quarters of stop and searches don't even lead to charges.

It's time we stop focusing only on the negative and start celebrating the amazing things young people are doing in their community, schools and beyond.

Let's change the conversation and show the world the positive side of young people today." So maybe you did even better than we did and you managed to put in some of the amazing things and amazing examples that some of you young people are doing in your community, within your school, and perhaps beyond.

So well done if you did.

Really good effort.

We have now come to the end of our lesson, and we are gonna summarise it for you.

In England, information about youth crime goes from age 10 up until age 17.

The youth justice system in England and Wales is different from the adult system.

Recent crime data shows a mixed picture.

In the year ending March 2023, stop and searches of children increased by 13%, but over three quarters of them resulted in no further action.

Media coverage of young people is twice as likely to be negative, 28%, as positive, and 14% of them are positive, which can reinforce unfair stereotypes and leave young people feeling pressured.

Actions to improve media portrayal include petitions, events, campaigns, creating news sources, and using media positively.

So well done on all of your efforts and understanding and listening in today's lesson on is the media representing the reality of youth crime.

I hope to see you in the next one.

Bye-bye.