Tackling teenage knife crime

London's Metropolitan Police are urging teenage boys to "choose a different ending" in a new interactive publicity campaign running on YouTube. The campaign, filmed from the point of view of a teenage boy, allows users to interact with a series of films and decides what happens next.

Almost four London teenagers a day are victims of knife violence. And more than seven youngsters are robbed at knifepoint in the capital every day according to UK Home Office statistics that lay bare the threat blades pose for teens.

Young people are carrying knives without thinking about the consequences, which can include being scarred for life, maimed or even killed. London's Metropolitan Police are adopting an innovative tactic in the war against the scourge of knife crime which is ruining the lives of many young people throughout the capital.

The premise behind the latest campaign is to show young people the consequences of decisions they make: choosing to carry a knife or not. The campaign aims to dispel the myth that carrying a knife gives protection and to provoke youngsters to think carefully about their decisions by showing them the consequences of carrying a knife: death, family shame, prison.

Commander Mark Simmons, head of Operation Blunt 2, said: "The campaign reflects our key messages to young people that carrying a knife can have serious consequences, and that before they choose to do so, they need to stop and think about their actions."

Knife City, a spoof computer game in which a hooded youth is stabbed in a fight on a housing estate, was the centrepiece of an earlier campaign created for the Met in an attempt to reduce knife crime. The action follows a youth as he encounters a gang on the street, a fight starts and, as he is stabbed, animation gives way to live action.

Documentary-style footage then takes over as bystanders watch in horror and an ambulance arrives. The attacker is then taken to a police station where his computer generated self fades to live action as the reality of his situation becomes clear.

Violent street robbery in the UK is often carried out because of a desire to fight, to put right perceived injustice, to increase "street cred" or even just for "kicks". One offender said he was addicted to it. "It weren't even for money. It was just — I had money; it was more like the buzz you get from doing things. I was more addicted to robbing than I was to drugs." One element in the excitement came from overpowering the victim and obtaining dominance. "It's for the fun. 'Cos the point of street robbery is to get them to fight back, innit? I'd give him a couple of slaps and tell him to fight back, yeah. If he won't fight back, we just give him a kick and go." Robberies can also be prompted by anger and the desire to start a fight, with cash being taken only as an afterthought. Here the level of violence used is often beyond that required to secure the victim's compliance. "I picked a fight with someone on the street. They were the first people I come across. I started hitting one of them and calling him names and said, 'What are you looking at?' and stuff like that. Then I can't remember how but I started hitting him and then I just jumped on him. Punched him, turned him over, went through his pockets." Some robberies were committed as a kind of informal justice in which the offender felt he or she had righted some wrong done to them.

Comment…

"I think that knife crime is becoming more popular due to the media. It seems to be that young kids are not being taught to work hard and make something of themselves. A lot stems from parents not giving their children the fundamental teachings that will make them into hardworking men. Young boys are getting greedy and lazy. They don't want to work but they want money! The media, for example MTV, is influencing kids that it's all about having jewellery and the latest gadgets, but in my opinion these kids are not getting the self confidence to become somebody worthwhile. When kids rebel against the system, I believe it's for attention (negative or positive, it doesn’t matter). These kids need positive influences from a young age. But with so many kids growing up with parents on the dole, and no interest in their future, what chance do they have! There needs to be more free workshops to get these kids to achieve more than street cred. The government need to put more money into the poorest boroughs so that kids have something better to do with their time. Every activity nowadays costs money, some parents including myself can't afford. If the younger generation do not get the attention they are crying out for, it will get a lot worse." — Shelley

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