Mods vs Rockers in the 1960s : Creation of a Moral Panic

One weekend in 1964 residents and holiday-makers in the seaside towns of Brighton, Bournemouth and Margate, were rocked by a sudden influx of young, cool gangs. They were Mods and Rockers, and the culture clash that occurred that weekend, described in the articles below in The Daily Sketch, Daily Mirror and others, has become iconic in the history of youth culture. 

Mods and Rockers were easily identifiable by their distinctive clothing styles: the Mods wore Fred Perry and Ben Sherman designer suits, covered by a Parka jacket; while the Rockers wore leather biker jackets and jeans. Mods also rode European scooters like Lambrettas and Vespas and listened to a mix of Motown, ska and bands such as The Who. 

The Rockers favoured motorbikes and listened to American rock and roll such as Eddie Cochrane and Elvis. Although the movements were short-lived, violent clashes between the two gangs were seized on by the media and used by moralists to exemplify the outrageous liberties enjoyed by Britain’s youths. 

The seafront vandalism and violence described in the newspaper article was later made into the 1979 film Quadrophenia.

The video below shows how the media in the 1960s reported the clashes between mods and rockers and considers whether or not the media coverage exaggerated the scale of events leading to a 'moral panic' in relation to the behaviour of these youth subcultures.

This is evidence of historical creation of collective identity for British youth cultures. 

 

Question

In what ways do the media texts referenced above create a representation of young people as being a danger to society?

Throughout the texts above, the population of young people are portrayed to be a danger to society. This is done in a variety of ways via the media and in particular the newspapers. 

The main way in which the young people have been described by such newspapers is to be 'wild'. The Daily sketch used the phrase 'wildest ones yet' in a description of the young people of Whitsun. This phrase is one that will stay with the older groups of people when casting a judgement over all of young people. In this same article, the headline uses a lot of military based phrases such as beach crowds had to 'take cover' during the 'battle' between the mods and the rockers. This sort of language has been used to give a clear image of war and mass destruction between the two groups which impacted on the general public also.

The Daily Mirror, a well established newspaper company, also had their say on the bank holiday mayhem. In an article on the incidents of Margate, they used the phrase 'Wild ones beat up Margate'. This particular headline was used to set in the minds of the general population of Britain that these teenagers, that not only belonged to the two groups, but just teenagers in general where a danger to society as they had not only battered each other but also destroyed the sea-side town. The media coverage on this bank holiday was presented in such a way that meant people would scapegoat all of teenagers as dangerous and a drag on general society. 

The article of this Mirror report chad a further subheading with strong references to war. It read 'Mirror Men see the savage battle on the sands'. This wording seems to ave strong links with D-Day which of course would have been lived through by the older generation just 20 years previously. This sort of imagery is one that the newspaper companies will have anted to entrench in the people's mind when reading and discussing the teenage society.