What would a society made up only of teenagers look like? In around 1950, a plane crashed on a remote island. The only survivors were adolescentPeople who are still growing up, especially teenagers. boys, tasked with building a new society in the wild.

But their brave new world quickly descended into chaos. They became convinced that they were being pursued by a menacingThreatening; suggesting the presence of danger. beast. They became driven by superstition and divided into vicious warring factionsGroups of people who are involved in a conflict or quarrel with each other..

As you may have realised, this is not exactly a true story. It is the plot of British author William Golding's compellingVery interesting, irresistible. 1954 novel Lord of the Flies. But its representation of teenagers as impulsive, irrational and emotional has been enduringLasting..

It may be an unfair depiction. A new survey has asked 2,000 teenagers about their biggest concerns and the results have given a pertinentRelevant. , wise picture of life as they know it.

Of the 2,000 people aged 13-18 who took part in the survey, nearly half (46%) said that they were worried about knife crime in their local area. A survey from last year showed that half of UK teenagers have either witnessed or been victim to at least one act of violence.¹

The poll also showed a growing resistance to the internet and social media. More than a third said that social media should be banned for under-16s.

The youths were keen to better regulate online content and 80% agreed that there should be safer internet search functions and 82% were critical of algorithmsAny set of rules followed by a computer. In the context of social media, "the algorithm" refers to the intelligent AI that learns the interests of the user and presents them with posts that it thinks will interest them. pushing harmful content. Mental health was also a major concern.

We are remarkably bad at addressing teenagers' worries. After all, teenagehood is a relatively new concept: only 100 years ago, you would not have been a teenager at all. Before World War Two, there are remarkably few examples of the word ever even being used.

Now, there is a whole culture surrounding teenagerhood. Teenagers have specific interests, needs, beliefs and pastimes. They occupy a different information landscape.² They have different and, many say more practical, demands.

There is a stereotype that teenagers are apatheticShowing no interest. . But the biggest political protest movements of the last few years have been headed by young people, from school strikes for the climate to Black Lives Matter.

Youth turnout in recent elections has been unreliable though, with new research revealing that only one in 10 young people aged eight-17 believe that politicians focus on young people's concerns when making decisions.³

And amid a resurgenceA revival after a period of inactivity. of the far-right in European politics, many are worried that these feelings of disenfranchisementDeprivation of the right to vote. It derives from a French word for free. are feeding a dangerous trend, with young Europeans becoming increasingly likely to favour anti-immigration and anti-establishmentA group of people who have authority within society, such as the government or religious leaders. parties.⁴

Young people have turned away from parliamentary politics. And yet their concerns represent the biggest issues we will face in the coming decades. What can we do?

Addressing individual issues is one thing, some say, but ultimately it is representation that we should be striving for. Politicians have no incentive to represent teenagers, teenagers claim, because most teenagers cannot vote. Power starts in the ballot box. And, though William Golding might not approve, perhaps we should start believing in the ability of young people to build a better society.

Is there a solution?

Yes: There is only one way for teenagers to feel heard, and that is for them all to gain the right to vote. It does not benefit politicians at all to act on the issues that young people are highlighting unless those young people have some voting power.

No: The issues highlighted by young people in this survey are unfortunate social maladies, but most of the solutions supported by the respondents are entirely impractical and idealistic, such as banning smartphones for under-16s.

Or... The issues that young people are raising now are the issues that voters will be grappling with for coming decades. Any self-respecting politician should start brainstorming solutions now, even if it does not benefit them immediately.