Introduction

Young people have few legitimate means to having their voice heard. This book offers them that voice. It also offers a major opportunity to turn the problem of ‘youth’ on its head and to question the extent to which ‘adults’—their attitudes, policies and practices-ignore and exacerbate, rather than acknowledge and resolve, the problem of young people’s social exclusion. The chapters in this volume ask searching questions about society’s capacity and willingness to be more socially inclusive of young people. Whereas much of the academic focus in recent years has been on the problems that young people present to others, this book emphasises the problems that young people face from others. It addresses the fact that those who are older and more powerful than young people have rights and responsibilities which are not only denied to young people but are also used to further marginalise them.