Young people have long been the focus of social fears. Public figures regularly express concern about the disorder created by unruly youths, or the effects of change on young people. This is the case in relation to popular music, 'youth gangs', new technologies and other areas. This subject will consider how young people became defined as a problem by politicians, policy, the media and others. Resulting 'moral panics' represent social anxieties around economic, social and technological change, producing calls for 'solutions' which often entail repressive laws or policing. Students will examine a range of case studies from Australia and elsewhere.