“Mug a Hoodie: Tories promise they will put 100,000 in jail to clear Britain’s streets of thugs”. This headline immediately caught my eye as I was reading the papers this morning.

There is no question that this is a much debated topic.

People everywhere are encouraged to be scared of ‘hoodies’, with headlines hitting the news almost every week alarming the population of their dangerous behaviour.

Britain’s town centres being overrun by drunken teenage gangs, running about at night stabbing and harassing passers-by while filming the ‘event’, is becoming increasingly common in this country, according to the politicians in the news.

However, to what extent is this all true?

Disadvantaged young people in the UK are commonly stereotyped as ‘hoodies’, ‘yobs’ and ‘chavs’, and from what I understand, these terms are directed to young people wearing hoods and trousers that look almost as if they are about to fall down, usually holding a can of beer and playing loud music on buses, to deliberately alienate people around them and emphasize their ‘status’.

As discouraging as that sounds, it is interesting to think whether they are actually truly ‘evil’ citizens or just young people lacking opportunities, and wanting just a bit of motivation to give them some ambition in life.

Perhaps better parental skills would be of much help too.

While I think a series of social and unfortunate events definitely contribute in building this disrespectful reputation and attitude that they have, I am not saying what they do is correct.

Anyway, are today’s hoodies not the ‘teddy boys’ of the 50s, the ‘mods’ and ‘rockers’ of the 60s and the ‘skinheads’ of the 70s? Youngsters since the 50s have been lured into anti-social behaviour, and in grouping together, they seem to adopt a shared identity.

This is a recurring problem in society throughout every generation.

Furthermore, putting 100,000 people in prison doesn’t necessarily make the problem go away; society needs to address this issue by first understanding the causes of it.

It is undeniable though that there will always be the so-called ‘hoodies’ among us.

What our politicians should now do is tackle this problem with alternative and more realistic solutions.