Youth subcultures are not something new in public life. In one way or another, directions and modifications of this phenomenon were present at various times and among many peoples. However, the concept of “subculture” took shape in the humanities relatively recently. This term was introduced into scientific circulation in the 50s of the twentieth century by sociologist David Riesman and was defined as “a group of people who deliberately choose the style and values ​​​​preferred by a minority.” In this understanding, subcultures have existed for quite a long period of time. The influence of subcultures on the upbringing of schoolchildren is a controversial issue in science and is viewed in both a negative and a positive light. We believe that the vector of such influence depends on the values ​​underlying a particular youth subculture, which can be both creative and destructive. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to highlight creative and destructive types of youth subcultures. The most popular youth subcultures of the last decade, according to experts from the Higher School of Economics (2017), were goths, punks and emo. The peak of their activity was in 2007 and has long since subsided. They have been replaced by new or modified directions. Popular destructive youth subcultures include the “AUE” (Prisoner-Urkagan Unity) subculture, which is increasingly spreading against the backdrop of the general ill-being of mature citizens. This subculture is typical for a group of teenagers aged approximately 11 to 20 years. We believe that its emergence is to a certain extent connected with the growing well-being of modern teenagers, the “price” of which is the disadvantage of their parents (high employment at work, stress, health problems). The opposite of AUE is the recently formed “hipster” movement (also called “hipsters”). Vinishki-chan" and "vanilla"). AUE and hipsters do not cover the entire spectrum of modern destructive youth subcultures, but are the most popular among young people. AUE (Arrested Urkogan Unity) is a teenage subculture that promotes prison and thieves' concepts of the Russian criminal environment among minors. This subculture is characterized by an association of unformed individuals who have views and do not have an understanding of the real state of affairs in penitentiary institutions. The embittered cruelty used in these circles, as well as teenage maximalism, have an extremely negative impact on the unformed personality of almost any teenager, which most likely leads (based on reports from the Ministry of Internal Affairs website) to criminal actions of various etymologies. In particular, in one of the reports from In 2017, we found information that in the Bashkir city of Salavat, a group of teenage “aueshniks”, using a hot blowtorch and a wrench, tortured their peers for the so-called “wrong” type of clothing. For almost the same reason, in another region of the country, a teenager was brutally beaten by fifteen peers - adherents of the same subculture and views. An appeal to any modern search engine shows that these cases are not isolated and cover almost the entire country in their prevalence in different concentrations. The next group of subcultures, in contrast to “AUE”, united according to the principle of virtualization (the so-called “virtuals”): vinishki- chans, hipsters and “vanillas”. All these 3 types are united by one common property - virtualization: the main activity for the dissemination of these cultures is expressed mainly in staged photo sessions aimed at maintaining an intellectual touch, creating a popular image based on real or “feigned” knowledge in a particular field of literature or philosophy. The essence of these subcultures is expressed in trying on the image of a person who was popular at one time or another and emphasizing.