The Prince's Trust Charity in the United Kingdom has found that lack of an adult role model is one of the primary reasons teenagers join gangs.

"In a bleak report on youth culture, the charity founded in 1976 by the Prince of Wales said that more than a third of 16 to 25-year-olds say they do not have a parent they consider a role model, so turn to their peer group instead."

The report echoes warnings issued earlier by South Wales' Chief Constable Barbara Wilding, who said that tribal loyalty has replaced family ties for many young people. More than half of teens that dropped out of high school cited friends as their main role models and less than one-third said they would turn to a parent for help. Source: The Times (UK)

Labels: gangs, parents, role_models