Who are "young people"?

[JustPassingThyme]

When you hear someone say "young people" who do you think they are referring to? Personally, when I hear the phrase "young people" I think of 18 to 25 year olds.

I have heard the phrase "young people" quite a few times now. It's always used by ether teachers, or government and media types.

They often use it in conjunction with children, so they say, "children and young people are ...". Teachers at secondary schools will refer to their pupils as young people.

So, is young people the new PC code word for teenagers? Why the change? Why is an 11 year old at the end of year 6 a child, but 3 months later at the start of year 7 a young person? Something about that just doesn't feel right.

In my book anyone under 18 is a child and should really be referred to as such. If a differentiation must be made, use teenager, because everyone still understands that teenagers are children.

19 is a teenager but not a child 😁
I've noticed "Young People" used more recently.
I just think it's a variation on "Young Adult".
But even that is vague as to what age it covers.
🤔

I would consider it the same age group as you - 18-25. It covers the age group where people are still studying, at the start of their careers, travelling, etc.

Children are under 13 and then I'd say teenagers for anyone in between.

I think that 16+ year olds while legally children are usefully distinguished as young people. Especially those in work or work related training rather than school.

If i hear "children and young people" i think teens. Otherwise I think of a young adult 18-25.

I expect teens dont listen/engage as well if called children.

"Young people" would make me think 21 and under.

"Children" would be 12 and below.

"Young adult" would be 18-30.

Adult is 30+

I would say young people from say 11/12 and teen years. I would be more likely to say young adult from 16/17-25 most likely.

I think you have the age range right, it's teenagers plus early 20s imo. I think part of the language shift is that while teenagers aren't adults like the 18-25 crowd if you're running a service aimed at them, like sexual health, drugs, education, homeless outreach etc etc the needs of the two groups might be very similar, so why not have a shorthand.

Also generally calling teenagers 'children', while true, could come across as patronising and you don't want them to disengage with whatever you are trying to provide. They are navigating that halfway house between childhood and adulthood and the term 'young people' helps bridge that gap.

Ugh no, anyone under 18 is a child, refusing to call them that makes me uncomfortable. I just don't like the ambiguity, particularly when referring to children, there needs to be clear lines and clear language.

If there is a service aimed at 16–18-year-olds they need to say it is for older teens. If they are teaching secondary school, they need to refer to their pupils as teenagers, maybe pre-teens for the year 7s. It is not patronising to call someone with an age that ends in teen a teenager.

When did people start using the phrase "young people"?

I think you have responses which match the age range.

To answer your question “why the change” there is a movement around giving young people a voice and advocacy. So I think young people is used along those lines.

Interesting. I work in secondary school and we do often refer to students as "children and young people", but you're right they're all children.

I'm not sure where that's come from.

That said, if teachers are building relationships with teens (which they do, it's part of the job) it's probably not helpful to refer to them as children.

16-24 (under 25) in a healthcare sense. 'Young people' has been used for years.

I thought, legally, in the UK young people are 14-18. 18+ are adults. under 14 are children.

I do think that anyone who seeks to blur the lines between children and adults is a walking 🚩. It is important to maintain childhood as something that is both legally and developmentally separate from adulthood.

You see it a lot in publishing with YA, that seems to encompass 13-25, but is very often aimed at the top end of that. A horrible marriage of infantilised adults and adultified children. What does a 13 year old have in common with a 25 year old??

A 13 year old isn’t an adult, young or otherwise.

You thought wrong. Very wrong.

"Young Adult" in books though is generally 12+.
For example The Hunger Games novels are classed as YA.

They should bring back the teenage category. I don’t care if that embarrassed the adults choosing to read books aimed at teens.

Can you honestly look back at your 14 year old self and think you were anything other than a child? I cant.

It was Young Adult when I was going to the library weekly in 1983!

Are adults embarrassed by that?

In a care/social services context it seems often to mean 16-19

But when used by marketeers or in pop culture then 16-25

Interesting. I don’t think it was in our local libraries (and still isn’t in one of our boroughs) and the term wasn’t used in publishing either, I think. Puffin Plus, which was the first distinct teen imprint (I think) only started in 1981.

Just found this nonsensical statement in. Wikipedia article about YA:

“This [the very high percentage of YA readers being over 18] highlights the fact that readers of young adult literature are often adults.”

Stupid.

My older kids are 24/21/17..I consider them young people.
Ds 12 is also young but he’s a child. I wonder put him in the young people category.

It’s the only reason I can think of not calling fiction aimed at teenagers teenage fiction.

Why are so many actual young adults not just reading … books?

I do think it’s a real infantilisation of adults, especially women. Young women dominate kids book publishing as well. Not parents, funnily enough. Parents might have a slightly different take on Sarah J Maas, for example.

Er, yeah. Teens aren't children. They are minors in law, but once they are in puberty they are not children biologically, emotionally or intellectually.

Well, I'm 50-something, (mid - late 50s,) so 'young people' to me is anyone 39 or under.