A Scottish perspective

I have had some trouble downloading the DVDs that are intended to compliment the Kim thesis described in my last post, so I am still looking at options to see youth-produced videos online. The following is a documentary produced by young Scottish kids in a 'troubled' neighbourhood of Edinburgh called Broomhouse. What I found interesting about this video, and many other such documentaries or fictional depictions of 'troublesome youth', is the discourse around boredom as being a key factor in anti-social behaviour. They do, at first, mention some of the socio-economic difficulties plaguing the neighbourhood, but the problem with Broomhouse youth is quickly reduced to a lack of activities. The acting out is not related to poverty, not to the obvious prejudice inherent in the community, not to the systemic issues affecting these youths' families--no, they just need something to do.

I am all for youth centres and activities (even youth video projects), but at what point do these activities shift from being beneficial to the youth to being distractions from the social conditions that are causing them to act justifiably anti-social? Are YVPs and other youth activities intended to placate and maintain the status quo? Is a capitalist anxiety about an unproductive class more the issue here, i.e. is the lack of 'productive' behaviour itself more troubling than the little acts of rebellion?

It is unfortunate that the young people involved in this project go down this path, when their first instincts seem to be a discussion of the economic conditions of their community. This may be an example of what both Kim and Fleetwood describe as youth co-opting negative community/media perceptions in their own self-representations.

Have a look... (the accents take a bit of adjusting!)



Found through a Youtube search for "youth video project" [quotation marks included] which retrieved 38 results.