By Steve Purcell on
James Bond actor Daniel Craig has lent his voice to a new children’s charity campaign launched on Jun 26.
The “Believe in Children” campaign, run by UK charity Barnardo's aims to change attitudes towards troubled children, and Craig has recorded radio pieces urging people not to give up on difficult youngsters.
In a Barnardo’s poll of over 1,000 adults, a quarter of the respondents thought that disruptive or antisocial children were already beyond help by the time they were just 13. Two-thirds believed that children are more criminal than ever.
Barnardo’s describes these fears as exaggerated, citing a government Crime Survey finding that youth crime had dropped substantially since 1995.
Chief Executive Martin Narey said, “Some children’s behaviour is unacceptable and it has to be challenged. But we must not use that as an excuse to write off a generation.”
The new campaign asserts that all young people can be helped, no matter how difficult, unpleasant or uncooperative.
Barnardo’s says, “The alternative is to dismiss an underclass of children who have nothing to lose and who face nothing more than permanent unemployment, non-achievement and almost inevitably a life of crime.”
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