VIDEO: what's it like growing up in Scarborough?

Teenagers from Scarborough who took part in a BBC video exploring the hopes and dreams of adolescents in seaside Britain. Credit: BBC

‘Seventeen’ looks at the transition between childhood and adulthood and focuses on a number of individuals who have had difficulties through this stage of life.

The video follows teenagers who have grown up in Scarborough on a council estate, been part of the car community, are homosexual or were the shy person at school.

Featured in the video is 23-year-old Jazzebell who moved to Scarborough when she was just 10 years old.

She left foster care when she was just 15 and moved into a flat with the help of Foundation Housing.

The former Graham School pupil had mental health problems and was bullied at sixth form while she also revealed at the same time that she was gay.

Jazzebell said: “I wasn’t welcomed very well in Scarborough. It is difficult when everyone knows everyone’s business. I was picked on at sixth form and it was a tough time for me.

“Looking back it was probably a stupid thing to do to move out when I did. My foster family were fantastic and I can’t thank them enough.

“I told a few of my friends that I was gay and, because I had a boyfriend at the time, I was being called a horrible person and that I would upset him.

“There wasn’t a gay community in Scarborough and there was not a lot of help for children with mental health problems so I felt very isolated.”

Filming for the video, made by filmmaker Mollie Mills, took place in February and has been published on the BBC website.

Seventeen has attracted some negative comments stating it has portrayed Scarborough in a negative light but Jazzebell, who since production has moved to Newcastle to become a model, disagrees.

“I believe it is fantastic, showing the other side of things”, she said.

“I didn’t have friends at school because they didn’t understand who I was. I have had a lot of positive feedback praising how brave I was to speak out about my personal troubles.

“I hope the video inspires other teenagers in Scarborough to go out there and do what they want to do at school and in life despite what they look like or their interests.

“I, and the other participants, are part of the minority, but we have a voice too.”

• What are your opinions on how Scarborough is portrayed in Seventeen?