Glasgow Young People's Survey 2003
MORI Scotland was commissioned by Glasgow City Council, Strathclyde Police and Glasgow Alliance to conduct research among young people in Glasgow to see what they do, like and dislike about the city, and what their priorities are for the future. Most young people are satisfied with their area as a place to live (57%). They particularly like to live near their friends and be able to visit them on a regular basis. There is, however, a sense that there is little for young people 'to do' in their communities, resulting in time spent hanging around. If the Council is to do more to help young people, they would particularly like more local cinemas and bowling alleys (for example) and more leisure and sports facilities.
MORI Scotland was commissioned by Glasgow City Council, Strathclyde Police and Glasgow Alliance to conduct research among young people in Glasgow to see what they do, like and dislike about the city, and what their priorities are for the future. Most young people are satisfied with their area as a place to live (57%). They particularly like to live near their friends and be able to visit them on a regular basis. There is, however, a sense that there is little for young people 'to do' in their communities, resulting in time spent hanging around. If the Council is to do more to help young people, they would particularly like more local cinemas and bowling alleys (for example) and more leisure and sports facilities.
While they enjoy the sense of community gained by having friends nearby, it is clear that this can lead to a sense of territorialism. Thus, when they do have things that they dislike about their area, it is sometimes that there are 'gangs', 'fighting', and 'feeling unsafe'. As a result, a common improvement that is suggested is having more police to patrol the streets.
Young people have frequent contact with their friends, often visiting them at their homes, or contacting them using the phone, text or email. Seven in ten say they go to the cinema, and around half take part in sports or games. Other 'organised' activities are less common -- three in ten say they go to a youth club, a quarter take some sort of lessons and one in ten go to some 'uniformed' youth activity (such as Scouts or Girl Guides). Many of the most common pastimes are relatively sedentary, however, such as listening to music and watching TV/videos and using computers either as a PC or to surf the net or play games.
While most young people say that they have not actually broken the law in the past year, many admit to a range of 'anti-social' behaviour. Thus, seven in ten (71%) admit to having dropped litter or spat chewing gum in the street or travelled on public transport without paying their fare (42%). Young boys aged 14-15, the group that are particularly likely to say they spend leisure time hanging around in the streets, are most likely to have experienced being told off or told to move on by the police (77%) or have been stopped and asked questions by the police (71%).
- Topline Results -- pdf -- 82K
- Final Report -- pdf -- 152K
Technical details
MORI gathered information from a representative sample of 1,551 young people aged between 11-18 in class (Primary 7 to Secondary 6). Pupils were asked to complete a questionnaire in class and hand it back a MORI representative at the end of the period. Fieldwork took place during January and February 2003. Prior to this, a series of focus groups and depth interviews explored issues that might be included in the questionnaire.
