TEDx Lecture - Plan B (Ben Drew)

This topic is extremely close and important to Ben Drew due to his own life in a council estate. And therefore knows how it is to be portrayed and judged in this way by society. Plan B believes that people or kids who live in estates are associated with the word 'chav.' The quote, "council house and violent" is what Plan B thinks the word 'chav' means as the stereotypical ideologies of youths living in council estates is connoted. Plan B says that this is an incorrect technique for society to judge upon youths, living in conditions that are poor. He believes that the media constantly show articles which emphasis the dilemmas with youths in general. However, they tend to exaggerate at certain points and stereotypically judging youths.

Plan B realizes what these youths have been through and how they live their lives. Whereas, society completely ignores these people who have been brought from unfortunate families as they are stereotyping them with negative ideologies and opinions. Youths that live in council properties go through a lot and grow up with completely no body except their neighbourhood buddies. Drew recognises how this works as he was once upon a time, in this situation.

Drew was targeting the elder demographic as the audience. He believes that they would benefit more from a lecture like this as it shows them that youths should not be stereotyped and portrayed in the way just like they are by the media. The elder demographic constantly judge these youths by their actions, appearance and language which is truthfully wrong. Drew also made an important announcement which is that people should not believe or take in every single thing they read or see in newspapers, as they are quite good at exaggerating things and leave the relevant and true information out in order to make ideologies and stereotypes dominant.

In terms of the audience, according to the phsycographics, the people in the category of mainstreamers would be hooked as they would want to keep to the trend and therefore think the same as the majority of the world. If Drew was to change the mainstreamers' opinions on this matter, then this may conclude in the overall dominant ideology to be less authoritative. This would also be directed towards carers as they would want to make a change to the world for the best. Perhaps explorers would come in handy as they would want to find out more about whether this view is amd how its being portrayed.

According to Stanley Cohen, a moral panic occurs "When a person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests". Those who start the panic when they fear a threat to prevailing social or cultural values are known by researchers as 'moral entrepreneurs', while people who supposedly threaten the social order have been described as "folk devils". Moral panics have certain distinct features such as concern. There must be some sort of awareness that the behaviour of the group or category is associated with some kind of negative impact on society.