Young people have a particular relationship with the world. There are many groupings (subcultures) that have interests different from those of the mainstream culture. A particular cultural grouping is a way for young people to express their individuality (identity). By the mid-60s teenagers had begun to form distinct cultural groupings. Most young people in Britain follow some kind of youth culture: rocker, hacker, raver, skinhead, hippies, Goth, punk...

Why do teens choose a subculture?

A subculture is a way of life. It isn’t a fan club, it’s a real life. It seems to them that the parents are always saying: No! That everything about them: their hair, their music, clothes, the way they talk, their dreams are considered bad by grown-ups. The young people are unsure of where they are going. So it’s a way of having something that they can say they belong to and that they are “whatever”.

Often young people do something not because they want to do it. They do things because everybody around does or because they think it’s impolite to refuse.

The inspiration to form a youth culture comes out of a combination of fashion, style and music. A subculture is group with a distinct style and identity. Different subcultures have their own beliefs, values, fashions…

Nevertheless, members of different subcultures may have something similar in their image, behavior, etc…

Some people think that all subcultures are awful. And I think this opinion is absolutely right.