Speaking at the Children's Health 09 Conference, which took place in Westminster last Thursday, Sir Al Aynsley-Green urged delegates to celebrate the majority of children who are law-abiding and come from loving homes and to confront the negative portrayal of young people in media headlines.
He went on to criticise the Government for not banning the use of ultrasonic devices such as the Mosquito, which emit a high-pitched whine that can only be heard by people under 25. The devices have been installed in public places such as railway stations, shopping malls and housing estates, to discourage young people from loitering. Sir Al said that under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children have a right to gather freely.
Sir Al is a member of the Buzz Off campaign, which was launched by a coalition of youth organisations to try to end the installation of devices like the Mosquito (News, 21 February 2008).
He added, 'I have had reports from parents of young children and autistic children from different parts of the country who have told me about their child suddenly getting very upset in shopping centres for no clear reason, and then later finding out that is due to one of these ultrasonic devices.'
Sir Al also slammed the British media for stereotyping young people as violent 'yobs'.
He said, 'Why do we allow our newspapers to display such a negative view of our young people? The demonisation of young people has not been this bad at any point in our history.'
At the same conference, children's minister Dawn Primarolo called for health practitioners to work together to tackle inequalities in the provision of child healthcare.
She said, 'Inequalities, as they build up over the early years, can tear whole chapters from children's lives and sets them on a collision course with social issues in later life.'
