Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe LONDON, July 27 (UPI) -- Scores of British teens admit they commit crimes, carry knives, use drugs and alcohol, and realize they scare adults, but they say they're getting a bad rap. The (London) Mirror Friday reported results of its informal nighttime survey of 10 teenagers ages 16-19 in 10 cities, in response to an Institute for Public Policy Research report finding young Brits are the worst behaved in Europe. Advertisement The newspaper found 45 percent of the teens surveyed admitted having committed a crime, 33 percent said they carried knives, 42 percent said they use alcohol or drugs and 63 percent figure adults are afraid of them. Only half said they respect the police. But 92 percent said they think British youth just get bad press. "People who dress all ghetto-ish give the rest of us a bad name," said Lakeesha Watson, 16, of Nottingham. "It's not fair because plenty of adults dress like idiots and we don't assume they are all the same." Ben Henderson, 17, of Henderson said adults "think they are going to be mugged or attacked by us," but Simon Johnson, 18, of Middlesbrough complained "all young people are tarred with the same brush but adults have no need to be scared." Advertisement
