Kids Rule OK is an interesting case of representation of youth - it's from a British comic called Action that specialised in ultra-violent stories and unsympathetic characters. Among the controversial content was Hook Jaw (a gratuitous rip off of Jaws), Look Out for Lefty (a Roy of the Rovers type strip that included scenes of football violence) and Hellman of Hammer Force (which followed the fortunes of German Panzer Major).
Action was so willfully controversial that it only lasted from October 1976 to November 1977, before publishers IPC closed it after Action was the centre of a campaign led by Mary Whitehouse and her National Viewers and Listeners Association to censor or ban the comic.
Kids Rule OK is set in the then future (1986) where all the adults have died off leaving the streets to the mercy of gangs of youths. But instead of helping to rebuild society they just knock lumps out of each other in horrific ways.This suggests that the only thing stopping youths going wild is order and adult guidance.
What's interesting though is this extremely negative representation of British youth hasn't been created to scare Daily Mail readers, it's been created to sell to and entertain British youth. This raises the question of whether representations of violent kids isn't just an adult nightmare but also a adolescent fantasy. As youth/kids have no real control over the world - politically, democratically, or financially - perhaps the only power they do have (the same as any other marginalised or alienated group) is the power of the angry mob.
What do you think of this? As a UK Youth what power do you have? Do you gain any sense of power/influence from the fact many adults are fearful of todays youth? Or do you wish for more positive representations?
More info on Kids Rule OK can be found on this excellent website sevenpennynightmare.
Kids Rule OK could be used when discussing past representations of youth but even if you don't use it, it's worth reading the final few pages of the comic just to see the hilariously contrived happy ending the writers gave it to appease the censors.