We live today in a society which gives a very negative image of the youth of our nation, this is partly an imaginary truth and which the media seeks to embellish but it is also, like any stereotype, based on the truth in many areas. You only need to consult the online national statistical database1 to realize that the figures - such as that of alcohol consumption which is the highest among young people since 1990 - are commonplace. These numbers are the first things that the majority of the country's population sees when looking at today's youth. The media likes to take these stereotypes and expand on them to paint an even more distorted picture. Such articles can be seen in newspapers every day and, in fact, even a search for "young people" on the Daily Mail website brings up headlines such as "ASBOs become 'Self-fulfilling prophecy for young people' »2 and "Excessive alcohol consumption and drug abuse lead to 'avoidable' deaths of thousands of young people, says top doctor"3 in the best results. What we see here is a broken nation - one where young people struggle to find an identity, but are then rejected by the majority and forced to find satisfaction elsewhere. In this culture of instant solutions, they find satisfaction and enthusiasm in different areas and place their trust in these rather than in much bigger things. This attitude then leads to an increase in phenomena such as alcohol and drug abuse, teenage pregnancies and youth crime rates. If we do not work as a population to help these young people instead of demonizing them, they will continue to follow their current ways and we will see a drastic change in the makeup of our country. Youth work is struggling to adapt to this changing world. .... middle of paper ...... people must offer from their culture what can and will improve the church, but the church as a whole is not. I think the Church needs to increase its programs for young people who need them and also overcome its prejudices. When this is achieved, we may begin to see young people returning to the Church, but not until then. ://www.statistics.gov.uk/CHILDREN/ 2 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-500949/ASBOs-self-fulfilling-prophecy-young-people.html 3 http:// www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1212832/Binge-drinking-drug-misuse-leading-preventable-deaths-thousands-young-people-says-doctor.html 4 http://www.churchtimes.co. uk/content.asp?id=83611 5 Going to church in the UK, Jacinta Ashworth, Research Matters and Ian Farthing, Tearfund 2007 6 http://www.soulsurvivor.com/uk/blog/ 7 http:/ /www.churchtimes. co.uk/content.asp?id=83611