Teen gang `promotes harmony'

TEENAGERS LOITERING at bus stops or shops are essential to harmony in village life. The youngsters constrain their behaviour in a way unheard of in cities because they feel highly visible to everyone else, say researchers from Anglia University, Cambridge.

After spending evenings last year with young people in Cambridgeshire villages, the researchers concluded that such gath- erings were "intimidating" toolder adults but improved village harmony and gave the young a sense of identity.

In the study of "bus stop culture", 13 to 17-year-olds hung about because of poor public transport. But a fragile harmony existed in the villages. The impact of being labelled a troublemaker was seen to be greater there than in towns, and most teenagers emerged as full community members.