Through the Looking Glass
| Title | Through the Looking Glass |
| Author(s) | Richard Darlington, Julia Margo, Sarah Sternberg, Beatrice Karol Burks |
| Organisation | DEMOS |
| Date | 22 April 2011 |
| No. of pages | 176 |
| Key words | gender stereotyping; self esteem; binge drinking; physical inactivity; teenage pregnancy; coalition; youth strategy; youth unemployment; basic skills; tax incentives for employers; social networks; sure start; peer influence; information, advice and guidance; work experience |
| Description | There is a perceived lack of self esteem which is reflected in worse rates of binge drinking, physical inactivity, more frequent incidents of teen pregnancy than other European countries and increasing amounts of ‘teen angst’. This study comes from polls of children, teenagers and young women and a trawl of other research. It aims to influence the Coalition’s youth strategy due out later this year. |
| Select quotations | “Through the Look Glass recommends this is achieved through tackling child poverty and youth unemployment; supporting parents at key transition points in their children’s development; and encouraging positive relationships with peers.” “Teenage girls value the phone in their bag and the computers in their room more than anything else.” “We recommend that poverty is tackled by reducing child poverty year-on-year and meeting the 2020 target prioritising tackling youth unemployment, through either a more adequate replacement to the Future Jobs Fund or tax incentives for employers to hire young people who are long-term unemployed; reinstating reading and numeracy recovery programmes; continuing the successful ‘hot spot’ strategy to target teenage pregnancy.” “We recommend that parents are supported by maintaining Sure Start on the principle of progressive universalism; focusing support services on parents whose children reach key transitions…; extending parental leave and flexible working; prioritising holistic early years and primary school interventions that build social and emotional resilience and improve literacy and numeracy; meeting step-parents’ needs through tailored support services.” “We recommend that girls are supported to build positive relationships with their peers and that the negative effects of peer influence are mitigated by promoting and protecting extracurricular activities; extending opportunities for teenage girls to undertake physical activity; supporting women-only and social-networked advice and guidance services; boosting careers advice and work experience; improving messages around alcohol; focusing on media literacy rather than labelling.” |
| Link | http://www.demos.co.uk/files/Looking_glass_-_web.pdf?1303410606 |
