The Archbishop of Canterbury has used his New Year’s message to reflect on the causes of last summer’s riots and how Britain can do more to help its young people.
Dr Rowan Williams said Britain had let its young people down by failing to provide good role models and having a negative attitude towards them.
He said there was a “national habit of being suspicious and hostile” whenever groups of youngsters are seen on street corners, at bus shelters or outside shops.
The Archbishop admitted that the events of the summer had been “horrific” and “showed us a face of our society we don’t like to think about – angry, destructive, lawless”.
However, he said it was crucial to remember that the youngsters involved were a minority and that most young people shared in the dismay at their behaviour.
Dr Williams is spending New Year’s Day at the Kids Company charity in London, where he is meeting young people packing food parcels for needy families in the area.
Their work, he said, showed what could be done to “wake up” the energy of young people and “let it flourish for everyone’s good”.
“We have to ask, what kind of society is it that lets down so many of its young people? That doesn’t provide enough good role models and drives youngsters further into unhappiness and anxiety by only showing them suspicion and negativity. When you see the gifts they can offer, the energy that can be released when they feel safe and loved, you see what a tragedy we so often allow to happen.”
Although he acknowledged that young people are not infallible, he pointed to the biblical mandate to pay attention to them as much as to older people.
He encouraged people to think about ways in which they could support and befriend young people in their area.
“Christian faith has underlined the essential importance of giving young people the respect they deserve,” he said.
“A good New Year’s Resolution might be to think what you can do locally to support facilities for young people, to support opportunities for counselling and learning and enjoyment in a safe environment. And above all, perhaps we should just be asking how we make friends with our younger fellow citizens – for the sake of our happiness as well as theirs.”