Teachers who cannot understand pupils’ tastes in music and clothes now have a handy guide from the yoof-conscious Government.
The report examines 10 teenage “tribes” - the Indies, Moshers, Sporties, Trendies, Townies, Geeks, Scallies, Gangstas, Skaters and Goths.
Goths, with their predilection for black clothes and gloomy music, are simple to distinguish from the hip-hop loving Gangstas, who the report stresses are not usually criminals.
The study, based on a survey of 1,000 teenagers in England and Wales, suggests the greatest range of tribes can be found in the South-east. “The majority of Indies, Moshers, Sporties, Trendies and Townies come from the region,” it states. “Geeks or Academics and Scallies predominate in the North-west, Gangstas are based mostly in London followed by the South-east, Skaters are largely based in the Midlands and Goths are mostly found in the Eastern Counties.”
Dr Peter Marsh, a psychologist and director of the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford, was commissioned to write the report for FRANK, a Government-funded drugs information service.
The study’s chief finding was that one in five of those surveyed believed their friends had pretended to take drugs to impress others.