Leave today's substitute for elderly foreign women alone

At one time, everybody used to moan about foreigners - and then it became racist and forbidden.
Women were also put down by society until sexism kicked in.
Then it was the turn of the old folk to become the butt of people's jokes. But Age Concern put a stop to that.
It's human nature to laugh at, moan about or put down someone else - preferably someone who's unlikely to fight back. Though the target group can't be completely defenceless like, say, toddlers. Or kittens. So now the elderly, the female and the foreign are out of the picture, who should we pick on next?
It seems it's teenagers who have become the target of today's outrage. The whole "Kevin and Perry" thing with teens portrayed as grunting, money-grubbing, parent-hating, loutish people started it off. Now you can scarcely pick up a paper without hearing about teenagers who binge-drink, play truant, take drugs or kick a person to death as soon as look at them.
Of course, some teenagers are like that. But has anyone bothered to find out what percentage we are talking about? For every loutish teenager on the street there are probably several hundred more at home revising for their A levels. And I think you'll find there are also plenty of loutish adults out there.
A recent BBC survey found that only 13 per cent of teenagers felt valued by society. That's very sad and it's time we changed it. Actually, teenagers are some of the nicest people I know. Some of the things I like about teenagers are:

• They're so enthusiastic. Whether their passion involves an ambition, a rock group, a hobby or a film star, they'll give it 100 per cent
• They're often much more polite than we give them credit for
• They still get excited about food. While older people are picking at their foie gras and caviare, they'll be tucking into their biscuits and chips with healthy gusto
• They still look up to their parents' generation and are more respectful than we sometimes deserve
• They look better on the dance floor than we do
• They're funny. A sophisticated sense of humour kicks in much earlier than you'd think