Youth culture survey conclusions

This study indicates that there is a general preoccupation among the Maltese about the form youth culture is taking. In response to a direct question on whether young Maltese mind only their rights or both their rights and responsibilities, as many as 60% think that contemporary Maltese young people are only interested in their rights; only 35.3% that they are conscious of both their rights and duties. The remaining 4.7% did not commit themselves.

Actually, more females than males think that contemporary Maltese youth are only interested in just rights (61.7% vs 58.2%). Interestingly too, many young people (58.3%) aged 16-25 said they are interested in both rights and duties, thus suggesting that the impression the adult population has of them is wrong.

On the other hand, the more advanced in years a person is, the more he or she subscribes to the idea that young people are interested only in rights (25-35: 57.7%; 36-50: 67.1%; 51-65: 68.1%; and 65+: 67.4%).

Loss of values

It is often heard that young people do not nurture values. This study tested the extent to which the Maltese actually believe this. The absolute majority, irrespective of age and social class, actually subscribe to this point of view, with a national average as high as 86.3%. Again, many persons in the youngest age-group also agreed with this statement, to the tune of 72.9%.

The highest incidence in this regard was registered, as expected, among those aged 65 and over, at 91.3%.

Those who had agreed that contemporary young people in Malta fail to endorse values were in turn asked to indicate what specific values they miss in them. All the answers were unprompted, and more than one value could be listed by the participants, hence the totals add up to more than 100%.

It is extremely interesting that so many Maltese gave spirituality, a sense of care, a sense of sacrifice, a sense of duty and a sense of love as the five most important values that contemporary Maltese young people are missing most. Even more interesting is that young persons themselves gave these values so much prominence and spontaneously mentioned them.

Actually, 34.3% of persons aged under 25 mentioned spirituality, 14.3% sense of care, 17.1% sense of sacrifice, 8.6% sense of duty and 17.1% true love. Clearly, the trappings of contemporary secularised society are putting enormous stress on young people and many of them appear to be aware of it.

The other thing that is indeed striking is the very close similarity in the opinions of persons in different age groups. In fact only in respect of respectfulness do the older generations register somewhat higher frequencies (65+: 11.9%) compared to that registered by those aged 16-25 (8.6%), but even so this last percentage is higher than the national average of 8.1%.

When the same group who had lamented that young people in Malta miss values were asked whose fault they think this is, a whole range of possibilities were mentioned. Of all the causes for loss of value among youth, peer pressure is perceived to be the most important, with as many as 33.6% spontaneously listing it in this sense. It is followed by parents (23.2%); entertainment providers (13.9%); TV and films (13.1%); and Maltese society (12.4%) as the most frequently mentioned by the Maltese as a whole. Other less frequently mentioned causes were teachers (1.9%); themselves (5%); the Church (1.2%) and the Government (1.5%). As many as 22.4% preferred not to attribute fault to anybody in particular.

What is particularly interesting is that young persons themselves do not vary much from the national average in attributing fault to the same factors. The greatest similarities are in respect of parents, whom persons aged 16 to 25 actually blame by 4.6% more than the national average; the entertainment providers, who are blamed by 0.4% more by the youngest group; films/TV are blamed by 1.2% more than the national average. The Church and the government are also more frequently blamed by young persons than they are blamed by the Maltese in general.

Surprisingly perhaps, many more young persons blame themselves (11.4%) than the Maltese in general do (5%). But the same group blame teachers less, as they do in respect of peers, of Maltese society as a whole. This suggests that young people are conscious of the processes that are affecting them, and on the one hand do not hesitate to blame those who are exploiting them commercially and, on the other, to recognise that they succumb all too readily to such exploitation because they are not strong enough as individuals to withstand pressure.

Paceville

Paceville, with its concentration of entertainment venues is a relatively recent phenomenon for Malta. Young people flock there, especially at weekends, and make merry, often into the early hours of the day. Many look at Paceville simply as a place where young persons can meet and socialise, others see it as the main cause of all the ills that characterise contemporary youth culture because it propagates a hedonistic vision of life, out of tune with traditional morality and promotes a free-for-all attitude.

This frequently heard attitude naturally is forcefully opposed by the entertainment providers and the owners of the bars that populate the area.

This study focused specifically on Paceville and asked participants three very specific questions on it, and by implication on other places providing the same type of services. Each of the three questions was preceded by the same statement, namely "Maltese youth flock to Paceville to seek entertainment".

The first question was whether they thought that persons under 16 should be allowed to attend such places. The overriding majority are dead against allowing persons under 16 around Paceville at any time of day and night. In fact, 85% gave an outright and unconditional 'No' to this question; 12.7% said that they should be allowed, while the remaining 2.3% did not commit themselves.

These figures were shared by all ages and socio-economic groups in the Maltese population, although some divergence does exist. Thus only 77.1% of those aged 16-25 do not want persons under 16 to be free to go to Paceville. But even so, this is a large figure indeed. The highest percentage was registered by persons aged 36-50, of whom 90.6% are dead set against allowing youngsters in the area.

The percentages for the different socio-economic groups are equally high, and consistently so. The highest percentage was registered by C2 members, at 90.2% but the lowest was also very high, at 81.4%, registered by C1 members. There is clearly a very wide consensus across the board that under-16s should be banned from Paceville and similar localities.

The second question was about the time up to which persons aged up to 20 should be allowed in Paceville and other similar localities. Once more, the majority do not want persons under 20 to be allowed around Paceville and similar localities beyond midnight. The question was open-ended and the times given were completely spontaneous. Only a few gave times beyond this.

The times given varied slightly across age groups, as was to be expected, and many more persons aged 16-25 gave 1 a.m. as the time by which persons under 20 should not be allowed in these areas (27.1% vs. the national average of 9%). The number of persons in the same age group who would not like to have a time limit was also higher than the national average (14.6% vs. 9.7%).

The last question in this series was a general question, and sought to collect data on what the Maltese think about obligatory closing times in Paceville and similar localities. Again the question was open-ended and the times given were all spontaneously offered.

The views of those aged 16-25 and 26-35, who are more likely to be Paceville customers, are quite different from that of the total Maltese population. Still, the majority of young people up to the age of 35 want the closing time of these localities to be around 2 a.m. In fact, while from among the whole population 25.9% indicated that the closing time should be beyond 2 a.m. the figures for persons aged 16-25 and 26-35 are 41.3% and 37.4% respectively. These last figures obviously include persons who said that there should not be a closing time at all for such entertainment places.

Drink and drugs

The final section of this study focused on drink, drugs, opportunities and policing. Questions were asked in an attempt to collect data on processes which are intimately affecting the lives of Maltese youth, why they are happening and what is being done pre-emptively to limit if not eradicate some of them.

The first question asked was why young persons fall for drink and drugs. Of all the reasons given, peer pressure (32.3%) was the most frequently mentioned in response to this open-ended question in which the participants were allowed to say what they wanted without any prompting whatsoever. This was followed by "They just want fun" (15.3%); "Because they are alienated" (10.7%); "They want to get away from problems at home" (10.7%); "They want to experiment" (9.3%); "They have too much pressure to study" (6.3%); "They are weak" (4.3%); "They are not appreciated" (3%); "They have no sense of purpose in life" (3%); "They have financial problems" (1.3%); "They have no good places to go to" (1.3%) and "They have no sense of God" (0.3%). So it seems that alienation and the search for fun appear to the major roots for this social evil, acknowledged not only by the Maltese at large, but also by young people themselves.

At the same time, the majority of Maltese (59%) believe that there are not enough incentives and/or associations that could channel the energy of youth in a good direction. Only 34.3% think that these exist, while the remaining 6.7% gave no answer. This view is shared across the various age groups and across the different socio-economic groups, but even more among the very young, of whom as many as 72.9% said that these facilities do not exist.

Sports

Participation in sports is often considered very important in the formation of youth. But as many a 68.7% think that very little attention to this activity is given in Malta in the formation of youth. Another 11.1% believe that sports is given no attention at all in this regard, while 18.7% believe that a lot of importance is given to it. The remaining 1.3% did not commit themselves.

Once more this view is subscribed by all across the whole spectrum of Maltese society, and even more so by the youngest group. Of these as many as 81.3% lamented that little importance is given to sports in their formation; 6.3% said that no importance is given at all, while the remaining 12.5% said that a lot of importance is given. These figures are very significant because they represent the immediate experience of these young people themselves.

The final question in this study focused on policing: are the police fulfilling their duty to enforce current legislation about alcohol consumption at entertainment sites?

As many as 70% actually feel that the police are not fulfilling this important duty; 25.7% think that they are while the remaining 4.3% did not commit themselves. Indeed, the percentages for the youngest generation are more alarming than those for the general population, because as many as 77.1% of those aged 16-25 say that the police are not fulfilling their duties in this respect. Only 22.7% believe that they are.

In summary therefore, it can be stated that both young and old are perturbed about what is happening to the general outlook and behavioural patterns of young Maltese. The old are concerned about a number of issues, but it appears clearly from this study that many young persons are also concerned about the set of issues after all. Outside pressures and lack of a strong character are making it easier for the young to succumb to practices which they themselves negatively view.

The underlying feeling that results from this study is that the young want more assistance and more opportunities to channel their youthful energies in a positive way.

Socio-economic groups

AB - professional, managerial, administrative

C1 - higher clerical, clerical, supervisor, skilled craftsmen and technicians, owner/manager of small business

C2 - skilled manual workers and foremen

DE - semi-skilled, unskilled, labourers, casual workers and persons whose income is provided by the State.