In a bid to combat negative youth stereotypes, charity London Youth has launched a collaborative campaign with clothing brand Champion.
The campaign is based on a social listening study conducted by The Corner. The agency looked into negative youth stereotypes on social media and found that ten of the most common negative words used to describe young people were: dangerous, anti-social, irresponsible, lazy, hostile, rude, violent, angry, selfish and ungrateful.
Recognising how these labels can affect personal growth, the collaboration seeks to counter this negativity through a capsule collection of t-shirts titled 'Labels.'
Each t-shirt is inspired by the personal stories of five young people who have faced negative stereotypes head on and overcome them through help from youth clubs and organisations.
To accompany the t-shirts, which will be available to buy in Champion's Soho store and Oxford Street's Urban Outfitters, filmmaker James Pearson-Howes has made a short video that features the five youths who inspired them.
Wearing the t-shirts, each person shares stories of the positive impact local youth clubs have had on their lives.
The aim of the campaign is to highlight the knock-on effects of reduced government funding for youth services, by demonstrating the transformative impact that youth workers and services can have on the lives of young people.
London Youth's chief executive, Rosemary Watt-Wyness commented: "Our campaign tells positive stories of young Londoners with ambition, resilience and the determination to succeed in the face of challenging life circumstances.
"These are just a few of the 27,000 young people we worked with last year who are committed members of local youth clubs and organisations across the capital. Young people tell us how detrimental the negative public narrative is, reinforcing inaccurate and unfair stereotypes on a generation."
Tom Ewart, chief creative officer at The Corner London added: "The words we choose to describe a young person, the labels we give them, can have a huge impact of their identity and behaviour.
"And whilst negativity, crime and violence tend to grab the headlines, we wanted to shine a light on the other side and show the positive stories of inspirational young people with talent, enthusiasm for life and the resilience to challenge and defy the negative stereotype they face every day."
: 'Champion London Youth III'
