There needs to be a louder public conversation about the ways in which the media perpetuates political myths about children and young people. 'Problem families' are currently a common target; Louise Casey, head of the government's troubled families unit, was reported in the Telegraph recently as suggesting that '(m)others in large problem families should be "ashamed" of the damage they are doing to society and stop having children'. The riots of Summer 2011 were blamed by Prime Minister David Cameron on young people's 'pure criminality', denying any link to poverty. And children in schools are constantly blamed for failings in the schooling system.
The Guardian on Wednesday published a piece entitled 'Number of primary school suspensions for assaults rises', reporting on yesterday's Statistical First Release of 'Permanent and fixed period exclusions from schools and exclusion appeals in England, 2010/11'.
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