The campaign

You’ve seen the posters in school, you’ve read about it in the b_line mag and you’ve heard your friends talking about it…still not sure what ‘This is me’ is all about?

Well, we’re here to explain just what it is!

‘This is me’ is a Derbyshire Youth Forum and Derbyshire County Council led campaign that’s all about challenging the stereotyping of young people by the media and promoting a positive image of Derbyshire’s teenagers…that's you!

The media often refer to young people as ‘yobs’, ‘hoodies’ and similar, but this isn’t a fair description of the majority of young people.

And many people also think that young people are involved in anti-social behaviour - crime, drugs and intimidation – more than ever before, but this just isn’t true! Just because you wear a hooded top and hang out with your friends outside doesn't mean you should be labelled as trouble.

In fact, a recent survey in the south of England concluded that you are on the whole better behaved than your parents/carers were at your age (based on them being 20 years older than you). Plus, around 70 percent of anti-social behaviour in some parts of Derbyshire is caused by adults.

So that just goes to show that your clothes may be different to what adults do and used to wear, but your behaviour isn't.

Campaign aim
‘This is me’, launched in September 2007, aims to show the whole community what you are all really like, helping to stop people thinking all young people are troublemakers and ASBOs (Anti-social Behaviour Orders). 

If you're aged 11 to 19 years old, you can fill in your online 'This is me' profile to show people that you are an individual and let them know what really makes you tick.

We want everyone to know about the campaign and we want as many people as possible to be involved, including adults too. If you are a local adult, part of a local business or a community representative, please go to our support page to pledge support and show that you don’t label young people as 'yobs' unfairly. Just remember what you were like as a teenager!