We live in a society today that paints a very negative image of our nation's youth, this is partly an imaginary truth and a truth that the media tries to spread and embellish but it is also, like any stereotype, based on truth in many areas. Just take a look at the online database of national statistics1 to realize that the data - such as alcohol consumption among young people which has reached its highest since 1990 - is commonplace. These figures are the first things that most of the country's population sees when they look at today's youth. The media enjoys grasping these stereotypes and elaborating on them to further paint a distorted picture, such articles can be seen every day in newspapers and in fact even a search for “young people” on the Daily Mails website brings up headlines such as “The ASBOs become "self-fulfilling prophecy for young people"2 and "Alcohol and drug abuse is leading to 'preventable' deaths of thousands of young people, says top doctor"3 in the first findings. What we are seeing here is a broken nation – a nation where young people struggle to find an identity only to be shunned by the majority and forced to find fulfillment elsewhere. In this culture of instant solutions they find satisfaction and enthusiasm in different areas and place their trust in these rather than in much bigger things. This attitude then leads to an increase in things like alcohol and drug abuse, teenage pregnancies and crime rates among young people. Unless we, as a population, commit to helping these young people instead of demonizing them, they will continue to behave as they are and we will see a drastic change in the way our country is made up. Youth work is struggling to adapt to this changing world. .... middle of paper ...... people have to offer through their culture that can and will improve the church, but the church as a whole is not. I feel that the church needs to increase its programs directed at young people in need to do this and also to overcome its prejudices - when this is achieved perhaps we will start to see young people return to church, but not before then. Works Cited1 http ://www.statistics.gov.uk/CHILDREN/ 2 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-500949/ASBOs-self-fulfilling-prophecy-young-people.html 3 http :// www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1212832/Binge-drinking-drug-misuse-leading-preventable-deaths-thousands-young-people-says-doctor.html 4 http://www.churchtimes.co. uk/content.asp?id=83611 5 Churchgoing in the UK, Jacinta Ashworth, Research Matters & Ian Farthing, Tearfund 2007 6 http://www.soulsurvivor.com/uk/blog/ 7 http://www.churchtimes. co.uk/content.asp?id=83611