Another London weekend, another bunch of reports of young people being shot, stabbed and killed.
A promising young actor apparently stabbed to death over a mobile phone. A seventeen-year-old boy was found in Camden with a gunshot wound to the head and lies in a critical condition in hospital. Another seventeen-year-old shot in the stomach in Archway is also in a critical condition in hospital.
I have been reliably told of a young man who was randomly stabbed in East London when a group of unknown young people pulled their car over to him, racially abused him (he is white) and attacked him. He ended up in hospital, gave details to the police who went on to explain that random acts of violence are on the increase and the perpetrators are unlikely to ever be caught.
A friend of a friend has recently sent their 16 year old son to a college in Spain for two years because they were so frightened of what may happen if they remain in London.
A story in the local newspaper detailed how local police received intelligence relating to a planned gang fight. They stopped a bus which they believed was taking young people to this fight and seized several weapons, including knives.
The list goes on and on and on. I really fear for all of our futures if this culture of violence continues to escalate. How can we solve this problem and what causes it?
First of all we know that young people are carrying more weapons on their person than ever before. I am sure that most of these kids do not go out with these weapons with the intention to seriously injure or kill people. This leads to the conclusion that they are carrying them for protection because they feel unsafe and under threat.
As more kids carry weapons, the more dangerous the situation becomes and the process widens and repeats, a classic vicious circle.
The police are trying to utilise new powers to search young people for weapons using scanners and metal detectors. Some groups are worried that this will result in increased incidence of stop and search, leading to increased alienation of our young people from the society that is supposed to be protecting and nurturing them, for their benefit and that of society.
This whole situation is made worse by the media which often sensationalises cases to increase consumption of their product, be it television, print, radio or online. Details become more lurid, reporting of these events increases leading to older people becoming more and more afraid of young people.
They aren't kids any longer and have become labelled as feral, yobs, chavs, youth... They are no longer seen as our responsibility, our future, our hopes for a better world. They are seen as the enemy and as a threat.
Until this mistrust and fear of young people is addressed things are only going to get worse. We need to work hard as a society to make young people feel valued again. We need to value their education, to make clear their choices, their rights and responsibilities and do what we can to help them make their way in the world.
We need to protect them from those who would do them harm with maximum sentences for violent offences in most cases. We need to identify youngsters at risk of becoming involved in crime, violence and drug and alcohol abuse at a young age and find ways to help them change their behaviour.
Most importantly I think we need adults to realise we are failing our young people, need to show by our examples better ways to live their lives happily, safely and responsibly.
How can we make the world a better place for our young people? I'd love to know what you think.
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1 comments:
nice post. there have measures to make carrying knives become and be seen as a more serious offence and one that people of a younger age will receive more severe punishment for as a deterrent. but really kids can hurt kids if they want to, knives facilitate matters but a bottle, brick or whatever can also be fatal, what i find worrying is the idea that seems to be becoming more popular that GBH or murder is, if not acceptable but an option. even encouraged as a matter of saving face, things escalate quickly. but it can't all be explained away as gang violence, there are plenty of random assaults as you pointed out. how is it possible i wonder for the sheer lack of empathy in many of these acts. are they acts of frustration, anger, violence, indifference, or boredom? surely one umbrella explanation would be reductive finger pointing. i have many friends who are teachers and are very worried about the children in inner city london, and not just the children but the parents, often young and angry and far from being considered and upstanding characters. but again simplistic solution hunting is going on here, just a factor among many and not far from being a truism. why are the parents like this in the first place? are things actually getting worse or is it simply an illusion that arises from society placed under the scrutiny of omnipresent CCTV, coverage, media and an unending stream of news stories? i am confused. but i guess it's probably a consensus that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable and a concerted effort by family, community, police, government and educational facilities to try and raise socially conscious young people. but greed driven voting for lower taxes and such is probably not going to help. so many ways in which we are dehumanised today it's hard to know where to start. maybe it's human nature that some will rise above and not be dragged down into the awfulness of their surroundings and some will fall by the wayside and try and bring others down with them in their despair, like an inverse version of spreading the joy, making others understand your pain...broad topic and i'm no expert but great entry. living in new cross and working in catford i see all kinds of violence and rage on the streets everyday but i also witness a lot of valid reasons for these feelings with no healthy outlet...
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