Raising a generation of louts

The 40-second internet clip of two teenagers kicking a dazed reveller in Dublin on St Patrick’s Day is the epitome of a broken generation.

There is a violent streak in this teenage generation, and a laddish culture on social media may be to blame. The recent Neknomination craze is a perfect example of this culture, where mostly young men went too far to ‘better’ one another, and it went awry, resulting in fatalities.

Television shows like Jersey Shore and Geordie Shore, or The Valleys, which are aimed at 18-24-year-olds, are finding a far younger audience than intended. Young teenagers are growing up with these shows, while following on Twitter and Instagram the trailblazing boozing of these ‘stars’. These shows consist of wild drinking sessions in nightclub environments, with the latest hardnosed techno hit being thumped out. They often end in violence, with the testosterone-fuelled stars squaring up to strangers and each other, before falling into a drunken slumber. These nights are celebrated, and the amount of adulation poured on an individual depends on how out of control they were. These are our children’s idols.