Prof Viv Cree of University of Edinburgh was a recent guest speaker for the Howard League Scotland. Professor Cree illustrated that moral panics about youth culture are not, despite the way they are often portrayed, a modern phenomena. For example, when cinema first emerged as a form of entertainment it was viewed as having the potential to be a morally perilous activity for young people in much the same way many people today decry the dangers of the internet. There is also something darker in these bouts of anxiety about young people in the way they become demonized, labelled with derogatory language. Viv's lecture went onto to explore possible explanations for moral panics concerning young people.
If you missed the lecture but want to find out more, see her power point slides see here: http://moralpanicseminars.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/howard-league-lect...