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the good life in a digital age

thinking allowed: hoodies

BBC Radio 4’s Thinking Allowed: Hoodies covers the moral panic in the UK around teenagers wearing ‘hoodies’, particularly the banning of people wearing hooded tops from Bluewater shopping centre.

It was interesting to hear about the swing towards positive stories such as the teenager who used his hoodie to save a girl from a swarm of bees. A story which sadly I couldn’t track down.

One typical feature of moral panics is the disconnect between public perception and reality. So youth crime is falling but 65% of the UK public think it is rising. Young offenders commit 10% of crime, 66% of public think it is at least 40% of crime.

Also interesting was the fact that the Trafford Centre banned hooded tops 7 years earlier than Bluewater but generated mere fraction of the publicity. Just like all ideas, all moral panics have their time.

Written by Karen

March 3rd, 2008 at 7:57 am

Posted in moral panic