My experience of young activists is that they (a small minority) are failing to do the hard work of educating themselves on the tactics of non-violent organisation, and as such they allow the cops etc. to turn the focus of the demos to reports about arrests and violence. Now, I have also seen attempts at changing that, but don't write off we old grey heads to soon, most cultures other than the viral infection of American culture honnor the old grey heads as teachers... so before you write off the sing songs of our generation, take some time to hear what we are saying...
Good luck and in solidarity,
See ya on the front lines,
Larry