It can seem sometimes that the only time children and young people make the headlines is when they appear to be up to no good.
But new research could help turn that reputation around.
The research, which was conducted for the #iwill campaign led by the Prince of Wales to encourage young people to do more work in the community, shows that almost half of Scots aged between 10 and 20 have been involved in some kind of social action in their community in the past year.
The research also revealed that around 46% of girls in the UK took part in social action in the past 12 months, compared to 35% of boys, with 45% of those from the richest backgrounds saying they took part and 34% from the poorest.
The figures are remarkable and include Scots such as 11-year-old Ross Tomlinson who volunteers at his local radio station in Glasgow. The station is already talking about possibly putting Ross through formal qualifications, but it is mostly about Ross having an enjoyable, and useful, experience.
The aim of the #iwill campaign is to encourage others to follow Ross into taking part in community work, but with luck the campaign will achieve something else just as important: changing some of those long-lasting prejudices about Scotland's young people.
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