London, Nov 3 (IANS) British society holds a negative view towards children, and thinks children have started behaving like animals, says a research by a children’s charity.
The survey by Barnardo’s found that almost half of Britons think children are violent, BBC reported.
Of the more than 2,000 people questioned, 44 percent said young people were becoming ‘feral’.
Barnardo’s chief executive Anne Marie Carrie said it was ‘depressing’ so many people were ‘ready to give up’ on children.
The survey revealed that 49 percent adults said children were beginning to behave like animals. Almost 47 percent thought youngsters were angry, violent and abusive.
The charity said young people who end up in custody come from ‘difficult backgrounds’, and in order to prevent trouble, society first had to deal with their problems.
Barnardo’s volunteer project worker Natasha Cripps said the word ‘feral’ indicated a complete desertion of young people.
‘To call them ‘feral’ means ‘right, that’s it, I’ve given up’ and I don’t think you can ever give up on children. It’s a real shame people are so dismissive of them now, and to use that word feral, it’s really quite scary,’ she told BBC Radio 5.
‘So many young people do positive things but they’re not advertised because we live in a society where we do look at the negative side of things in every walk of life,’ Cripps said.
‘So it’s very easy to demonise young people and use them as a scapegoat for the social difficulties that we’re having right now,’ she said.
