Gang Land

Dispatches: Why Kids Kill was a brutal insight into Britain's teenage gang culture.

The programme did not seek to moralise about their behaviour but allowed the youths to express their own opinions about life on the streets of Glasgow and South East London.

Quantifying the number of teenagers in the UK who have fallen victim to serious attacks from other youngsters is a difficult practice.

The code of silence that can often surround gang existence means that many victims are reluctant to name assailants or report attacks.

Using the number of stories gathered from press reports since 2005 the programme was able to ascertain that the number of teenagers killed by those of the same age has trebled in the past three years.

The media can often be blamed for exaggerating society's ills but here they are clearly reporting those incidents that have already occurred.

There is genuine concern that as such violence becomes increasingly common more young people are throwing away their own lives with such disregard as well taking away those of others.

Last Friday I went to Kingston Police Station as the force launched a joint initiative with the local Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute those carrying knives.

Knife crime has dropped by sixty percent in the borough since April last year but there's still a worrying trend amongst young people to carry these weapons and the authorities are keen to address this.

They want to challenge the glamourous image some young people associate with knives.

Inspector Joe McCloskey says teenagers don't always appreciate the wider impact even if they are just stopped on the street with such items upon them.



Article taken from www.stuartjamesross.blogspot.com on 29/1/08.