British papers carried two seemingly separate stories about children last week but for me, as a social watcher, they are certainly very connected. The first story, covered the fact that over 1.1 million children have had their genetic information taken and stored - but as many as half of them have no criminal record.
In the second story, Office of National Statistics data showed an increase in the number of pregnancies among girls in the 16-18 age group and the under 16s. More than 8000 British girls under 16 became pregnant in 2007!
And the link?
A whole generation of adolescents and young adults is growing up sensing that is mistrusted and maligned by the adult world. Adolescents are banned from shopping centres due to their 'hoodie' tops; they are shooed away by transmitters which give out high pitched sound frequencies which only their young ears can hear; they are represented on TV programs such as 'Skins' and 'Shameless' in the worse possible light.
Something rather radical has happened in society - and I look for the explanation, not at our 'feckless', or 'frightening' youth but first and foremost at the adult generations.
For example, just when did adults stop being parents? As Alan Duncan, a British MP said: "we are obviously failing our children when they are raising children themselves".
When did we stop being interested parties? Many children come off the rails when they have no adult presence in their lives - be they parents, step-parents, guardians, youth leaders or the like. Even teachers are disinterested or fearful of getting too close and being accused of child molestation. In fact, studies show, that for many children, this is the case - they have no adults at all to turn to.
When did adults abandon children to the wide open world? A recent British study showed that the majority of adults would not approach a group of 13 year olds if they felt they were misbehaving. Children, as young as 10 or 11, are left to roam the streets without anyone interfering or thinking that there is something wrong.
Meanwhile, the young, completely left to their own devices, are terrorising each other. I've a teenager
nephew living in South London and he will only take certain ways home for fear of being knifed. According to the British Metropolitan Police Service, in 2006, ‘52 teenagers are victims of knife crime EVERY week in London’.
And when did we stop being employers? Wherever you look - in Spain, France and so on - rates of unemployment are far higher amongst the young. In France 25% of young adults are without work - and most of those employed are on temporary, often 6 month, contracts (CDDs).
Finally, when did we abandon our fight for healthy younger generations? Rates of child obseity are growing in places as far apart as America and Argentina, China and the Czech Republic. In Britain, over 5000 sports playing fields were sold between 1981-1997.
Marketers need to recognise that the Coke-is-Life image of effervescent youth is a misleading pastiche.
And brands targeting youth need to be seen to be actively on youth's side. This is more than selling them stuff and helping them find their identity by giving them a cool self image. Its also about initiatives that give context and opportunities to young people. Look no further than MacDonald's football coaching as evidence for how brands can really make a difference.
So why have adults turned their backs on their offspring? The reasons are complex and manifold. Here are just three for starters. Firstly older generations have been having a party over the last decade or so. Who needs pesky children to come along and spoil it? Relatedly, we've all become so autonomous and egotistical over the last 20 years, that it's everyone for themselves - and that includes our very own children. Thirdly, the media has played its part in building up the image of youth as monsters-in-disguise.
So no wonder the teenage pregnancies, the obesity, the knife crime, the hours spent in front of the Playstation or the hanging around on park benches. Older generations have adandoned their youth. And what they have created through their negligence is a young generation with little notion of any social contract, who sense anomie, and who are simply making up the rules as they go.
All our futures will be a darker place for it.