Working with young people

Children and young people are perceived to be the source of many of the problems on public transport. Other passengers report feeling harassed and intimidated, staff experience abuse and violence, and waiting areas and vehicles are damaged by vandalism and graffiti. But young people are also victims of crime - from adults and other young people.

They are also major users of public transport and until they reach 17 they are a 'captive' market. Surveys also suggest that young people have similar fears to adults when travelling on public transport.

Many operators respond to the problem by going into schools and addressing classes or school assembly about the need for responsible behaviour on public transport. Some have developed materials which illustrate some of the consequences of anti-social behaviour

To foster a good relationship and to encourage a more positive attitude in the children, some operators encourage visits from school children to their stations or depots.

Such initiatives are worthwhile, but are likely to be limited in their success. They may not reach the young people most likely to be involved, and as one-off events they are easily lost in the children's memories.

This guidance note suggests some other approaches which may also contribute to improving relations with young people, encouraging their use of public transport and reducing their antisocial behaviour.

Work in schools

Many operators already respond to the problem by going into schools (both primary and secondary), perhaps sending drivers to talk to the children about their behaviour and how it affects the service and other passengers. Some illustrate their talk with a video.

They may confront the children with the worst consequences of their actions in the hope that this will bring home the seriousness of the risks involved. Others approach the issue less directly, by giving a more general description of the transport service, promoting its advantages, and then introducing the role that young people can play both as responsible users and as a potential problem to operators and the public. Unfortunately, as neither approach appears to have been evaluated, it is not possible to say which is more effective.

Indeed, there is some question as to the long-term effectiveness of this approach in isolation. It has been suggested that such talks on their own are likely to have only a short-term impact.

In order to have a lasting impression, it is likely that the message will need to be reinforced, both inside and outside the classroom. Delivering the message as part of the curriculum can help ensure that it is integrated into their learning, rather than just added on.

It is also suggested that children are more likely to remember the messages if they are involved in the learning - that is, given tasks to perform rather than just being given a talk. Some operators have become involved in their local Junior Citizen or Crucial Crew schemes, which aim to do just this with children of primary school age. These are run by the police or local authorities.

A further approach which is believed to be effective, and which has been used successfully in drugs education and to tackle bullying, is through using peers and not adults in authority to convey the message. Through this approach, the children can listen and discuss with other children the issues involved and what is important for them.

Staff training

Staff may feel intimidated by young people and be unsure about how to deal with them. As a result of their lack of confidence, they may look upon every young person as a potential trouble causer. They may either avoid communication altogether, or deal with all young people aggressively in order to demonstrate that they are not to be messed with.

Training can help staff to understand their fears and put them into perspective. Not all young people are out to cause trouble and it may be counter-productive to treat them as if they are. Staff can be helped, through training, to develop their skills in judging those passengers and situations which are likely to become troublesome. It can help them to build their skills in dealing with conflict and aggression, drawing upon a range of responses to find the one that is most appropriate to the situation.

Involving young people

Some operators have tried to build links with young people locally, to help foster a relationship and a sense of loyalty towards public transport. Examples include:

getting a class to 'adopt' a station or stop. This may mean just keeping an eye out to ensure that it does not get damaged or graffitied, or it may involve decorating a part of it
getting young people locally to contribute to the design of the new infrastructure, thus creating from the beginning a sense that it is 'theirs', to be cared for and respected
employing local young people to work on the construction of a new part of the infrastructure, again developing a sense of ownership
inviting young people to be involved in decorating a vehicle which serves their neighbourhood
providing work experience opportunities for young people on public transport

Diverting young people

Many operators identify the school holidays as being the time when they would expect to see an increase in many of their problems: more damage to bus and rail stations, more trespass on the rail track, more missiles hurled at vehicles.

The long summer holidays are particularly problematic. Just their length means that there are more times when children are without adult supervision, more time in which to become bored, and the longer days present so many more opportunities for misbehaving.

Some operators have become involved in helping to divert young people from unsocial behaviour during the school summer holidays. Providing outings at affordable prices both removes children from temptation and helps to develop a relationship with them. Contributing resources to larger diversionary schemes, such as SPLASH (school holiday activity schemes often run by the police and local authority), helps to provide a range of activities for young people over a one or two week period.

Social services

School services can be particularly troublesome, but they can also offer opportunities to develop a relationship with a group of young people. This can be achieved through using the same driver (or small group of drivers), making sure that the driver understands the importance of the relationship and is trained to foster it, and establishing a ready line of communication with the Head Teacher so that any potential problems can be quickly averted

The use of school monitors (peers, prefects or teaching staff) can be helpful on the vehicle, at the stop or station, and on the route between school and stop or station. School services are sometimes problematic because nearby schools end at the same time, creating crowding on the pavements at home time. This may lead to jostling and even fighting on occasion, which is a nuisance to local residents and other passengers waiting at the stops. In some areas schools have been able to stagger leaving times, thus avoiding the problem of all the children spilling out of the schools together

Working with other agencies

Operators are likely to benefit by working with agencies whose job it is to understand and work with young people. This means establishing contact with local education and youth services and with local Head Teachers. Doing so may be time consuming and at times difficult, but if a productive relationship is established it can have long-term savings in terms of cost and aggravation.

Working with young people