Children 'should be celebrated', says Balls

Ministers have raised concerns over negative stereotypes of children after a report found that 53 per cent of adults thought they were beginning to behave like animals.

Research carried out by Barnardo's and published on Monday found that 49 per cent said children were dangerous to each other and to adults.

The children's charity said the findings highlighted an "unjustified and disturbing intolerance of children in the UK".

It claimed the survey reflected the British Crime Survey, which shows that people blame children for "up to half of all crime" but they are only responsible for about 12 per cent.

Responding to a question from Labour MP Natascha Engel who called on ministers to "promote positive images of young people", children's secretary Ed Balls told MPs that young people should be "celebrated".

Most children were "wonderful examples" of good citizens, he said.

He added that it was "important to remember that it is young people who are often the victims of crime".

"And it's also important that a small minority are not allowed to ruin things for the vast majority of our young people, who are not only law-abiding but are wonderful examples of volunteering, of working hard and of doing best by their communities," he said.

"So it's important we celebrate young people, but we mustn't let the minority ruin it for everyone else."

Schools minister Jim Knight said the government should do "everything that we can" to promote positive images of young people.

And Labour MP David Taylor asked the minister if he agreed with Barnardo's chief executive Martin Narey that it was "appalling" to refer to children with words such as "feral" and "vermin", which were regularly used in relation to children.

Knight said he shared the concerns "because in my experience - and there is considerable evidence to prove it - the vast majority of young people are responsible".

"Of any age group they are most likely to volunteer in our communities, for example, and we should do everything that we can to ensure that we provide positive images of young people to counteract the stereotype that sometimes comes across from certain parts of the media," he added.