Abstract: The subject of this study is the problem of the formation of legal awareness and legal culture among the representatives of the younger generation aged 14 to 18 years. The author notes that the legislator has a fairly broad understanding of the term "youth" (from 14 to 35 years old) it does not take into account that this category includes citizens with different levels of legal culture.
Particular attention is paid to the question of the need to use pedagogical methods of forming the legal consciousness and legal culture of young people in order to create a rule of law and a healthy civil society.
The problem posed in this article is considered from the pedagogical and legal points of view of the age periodization of youth.
The article highlights three main problems of the formation of legal awareness among young citizens. Thus, there is an acute competition between the education system and the social environment of a young person for providing him with knowledge about the law. Pedagogical efforts to form ideas about the law in the older student are often offset by the imposition of incorrect images from the social environment. This problem is also becoming more acute due to the widespread development of digital technologies, the active users of which are young citizens.
Finally, the problem of organizing legal education in connection with the entry of young citizens into the age of criminal and administrative types of legal responsibility requires independent development.