Concern over moral values of young

Two-thirds of adults, or 66%, think the moral values of children today are "not as strong" as when they were young, a survey for the Children's Society has shown.

More than half, or 55%, thought there is more conflict between adults and children compared with when they were young and only a third, or 32%, thought that attitudes towards young people in their neighbourhood are "mostly positive".

Nearly seven out of 10 people polled, or 69%, said community values among children are not as strong as when they were young.

The findings from the telephone poll of 1,176 UK adults, conducted in January, were released to coincide with the publication of a summary of evidence on values submitted to the Good Childhood Inquiry.

Professional groups who gave evidence expressed fears about trends in society affecting the values children learn, the Children's Society said.

A rise in materialism, a preoccupation with celebrity, and declining networks of support from community and extended families were all cited as "negative factors", the charity said.

In separate evidence to the inquiry, more than one in 10 children, or 11%, said adults in their community were "never" friendly to them and 37% said only "sometimes" when responding to questions on the Good Childhood Inquiry and BBC Newsround websites.

The Rt Rev Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester and leader of the panel which drew up the summary on values, said children were aware of negative attitudes towards them, particularly in the media, and wanted to be portrayed positively, rather than as "thugs" and "vandals"

"There does seem to be evidence that as a society we have collectively developed fairly negative attitudes towards children in ways that mean children do not flourish as well as they might...We have got to think about why it is like that, and what we can do to change this," he said.