The Youth of today! Premier of film that looks behind the image

THAME and abingdon teenagers, working with a group of older people, have made a stunning film that challenges negative ideas about young people.

The Youth of Today ? seeing the person behind the image, premiered on Friday (October 02, 2009)) at the Cornerstone Centre in Didcot.

The idea that most young people are hoody wearing, drug taking, knife carrying yobs, was challenged and, by the end of the film, shown to be a gross over-simplification and generalisation that is simply not fair.

One of the highlights of the film is a laser quest-type skirmish between teenagers and pensioners, and by the end of the film, it is clear that both age groups have formed real friendships and discovered a greater understanding about each other’s lives.

The original idea for the film came from Southern members of the UK Youth Parliament who felt the media focused too much on negative stories about young people rather than highlighting their achievements.

In the film, an older member of the production team interviews Dr Tanya Byron of TV’s Tiny Tearaways fame, about the way young people are portrayed in the press, and Tom from Thame, a pupil at Lord Williams’s school, is shown in the film interviewing ThameNews.Net reporter, Sonja Francis, and asking some very pertinent questions about her views on the portrayal of young people in the press.

She agreed that the national press especially, did often tend to only pick up on the more dramatic stories involving violence, drugs and anti-social behaviour, but added that with regard to local news media, it was up to the young people themselves to push good news about their achievements and work in the community, by sending out well-written and interesting press releases and if possible, good pictures – a sure fire way to get the attention of a news editor looking to make a great page layout for that week’s newspaper.

The film was made with the support of South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse District Councils. The team were taught basic film making skills so they could script, direct, shoot and edit their film in their own way and the intention is that it will be shown at neighbourhood action group meetings, to help older people understand that young people are not an immediate threat. It will also be made available to other groups and organisations across the two districts.

Ann Ducker, Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “I am so pleased we are able to support this project along with the Vale of the White Horse District Council. It?s great to see these young people making a stand against the negative image that young people are often portrayed in.
“We hope community groups throughout the districts will use this film to kick start discussion about working with communities to tackle the issue that leads to negative publicity.”

Cllr Tony de Vere, Leader of the Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “The overwhelming majority of young people in our communities work hard at school and contribute an enormous amount to society because they care. But you very rarely hear about all the good things they are doing.
“Because of this, some people may be intimidated by young people unnecessarily. This film is a great step towards getting a understanding between the different generations and helping us all to be proud of the young people on whom our future depends.”

Linval Shepherd, aged 22, production team member from the Foyer in Abingdon said: “We wanted to show that young people do good things in the community. The media are always more interested in bad stories like knife crime and never seem to want to feature the good things teenagers are doing.

“Tonight is the first time I?ve seen the film and I really hope its message will spread. We want to prove the media wrong.”

The Thame team involved in the film’s production were:

Dan Timberlake
Jack Williamson
Emma Pearce
Gemma Read
Zach Read
Tom Hindley
Mary Stiles

Photo: Headteacher of Lord Williams’s school, Thame, Mary Stiles, a member of the Thame NAG group, who featured in the film, Thame Town Cllr Owen Davies and young people from Thame involved in the production.