COMMENT VIEW, Issue 37, 2016
‘’
www.viewdigital.org
Page 26
When words can do damage
T
Visiting research fellow Dr Faith Gordon argues that negative media portrayals of children and young people typically results in the creation of a one-sided narrative
he murder of toddler, James Bulger by two 10-year-old boys in Liverpool represented a turning point in youth justice. It clearly demonstrated the fundamental effect that one case can have on the justice system. The media frenzy that ensued provided the climate for what has been described as ‘vitriolic’ reporting. The Daily Star tabloid published images of the boys and ran the headline: ‘How Do You Feel Now You Little Bastards?’ (November 25, 1993). Reflective of the language employed by the trial judge in his summing up, other labels present in media coverage referred to the boys as: ‘evil’, ‘cunning’ and ‘wicked’, demanding that they ‘rot in jail’. This is one case which clearly demonstrates how the responses of the media, the public and the government, collectively were detrimental to children’s rights. Research I have conducted in Northern Ireland over the last decade demonstrates that the media apply similar labels to describe children’s and young people’s perceived involvement in ‘anti-social’ behaviour and crime. Labels such as: ‘sickos’; ‘evil’; ‘teen thugs’; ‘unruly’; ‘disaffected’; ‘out-of-control’; ‘hoods’; ‘tearaway’; ‘feral’; ‘immoral’; ‘scumbags’, have typically been employed by journalists as part of headlines, or present in quotations from local politicians. The committed and vibrant children’s and youth sector organisations have long highlighted the impact of this use of language. They have argued that negative media portrayals impact on the lives and experiences of children and young people, as well as on public perceptions of their service provision. This concern has been echoed at national and international levels also, in particular by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, who have raised significant concerns about the impact of ‘naming and shaming’. ‘Naming and shaming’, labelling and the subsequent stigmatisation can have long-lasting consequences, resulting in difficulties with forming relationships, seeking employment and accessing services. During research workshops I
One young man described how the local media had first labelled him as a ‘scumbag’ and it had then become a label employed by his ‘ma and granda’
conducted in Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre along with Mat Crozier from Include Youth, children and young people in custody discussed how negative labels are often internalised. When asked directly how they felt about media reports, young people expressed concern about the impact of negative reporting on their relationships. How they would be viewed and responded to by family and/or friends when they left custody was one of their major concerns. One young man described how the local media had first labelled him as a “scumbag” and it had become a label then employed by his “ma and granda”. Young people also stated that the media never contextualise young people’s behaviour and that important background information was rarely included in news items: “If your Ma doesn’t love you, you are gonna wreck home, do drugs, drink… but they [the newspaper] are sayin’ it’s all the young person’s fault.” Clearly the question of why a young person becomes involved in certain activities or behaviours is rarely asked. The lack of context, coupled with the marginalisation of the voices of children’s and young people’s advocates, typically results in the creation and maintenance of a one-sided narrative. Applying labels and ‘naming and shaming’ of children and young people has an added dimension and severe consequences in a post-conflict society. My research documented young people’s experiences of punishment attacks following production of their own forms of media to challenge negative stereotypes. Reflecting on several of their front-page news items, a number of editors interviewed admitted to “amplifying tensions” in local communities. Unless children and young people’s voices are central, unless the labels imposed by those in power are challenged and the larger questions are asked, we face the prospect of continuing to live in a contemporary society where the marginalisation of young people continues to produce a social group who are relegated to the margins and routinely experience the effects of breaches of their rights.