Both the Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Benedict have used their New Year messages to urge people not to give up on the younger generation.

Dr Rowan Williams said even though the UK experienced “angry” and “lawless” scenes in the UK during the summer, young people can “flourish” with the right love and support.

Similarly, the Catholic pontiff told worshippers at St Peter’s Basilica that young people were key to securing a future of hope, despite what he called “shadows on the horizon of today’s world”.

“To assume responsibility for educating young people in knowledge of the truth, in fundamental values and virtues, is to look to the future with hope,” the pope said.

He added young people must “learn the importance and the art of peaceful co-existence, mutual respect, dialogue and understanding”.

“Young people by their nature are open to these attitudes, but the social reality in which they grow up can lead them to think and act in the opposite way, even to be intolerant and violent.”

Describing the disturbances that swept the UK in mid-2011, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: “Quite a lot of the images we’re likely to remember from the footage of the riots in the summer will be of young people out of control in the streets, walking off with looted property from shops, noisily confronting police and so on.

It all feeds into the national habit of being suspicious and hostile when we see groups of youngsters on street corners or outside shops and bus shelters.

“We walk a bit more quickly and hope we can pass without some sort of confrontation.

“The events of the summer were certainly horrific. They showed us a face of our society we don’t like to think about – angry, destructive, lawless.”

He said those involved were a minority and most young people shared the “general feeling of dismay at this behaviour”.

He praised charities such as Kids Company in south London for providing support and role models to enable youngsters to develop.

“When you see the gifts they can offer, the energy that can be released when they feel safe and loved, you see what a tragedy we so often allow to happen,” he said.

“Look at the work done by groups like the Children’s Society or by the astonishing network of Kids Company in London, and you see what can be done to wake up that energy and let it flourish for everyone’s good.”

The Archbishop called on people to recognise how their actions can help improve society as a whole.

He said: “Being grown up doesn’t mean forgetting about the young.

“And a good New Year’s resolution might be to think what you can do locally to support facilities for young people, to support opportunities for counselling and learning and enjoyment in a safe environment.

“And above all, perhaps we should just be asking how we make friends with our younger fellow citizens – for the sake of our happiness as well as theirs.”