The death of Harry Potter actor Rob Knox at the weekend is the latest in a spate of knifings to have grabbed the headlines. But what are the facts behind knife crime and which young people are in greatest danger?
"Tackling knife culture, especially among young people, is paramount to the safety of our communities, and I am determined to reduce the devastation caused by knife crime," then Home Secretary Charles Clarke said in the spring of 2006.
Since then there has been a knife amnesty, numerous government initiatives and photo opportunities, with ministers slamming home the same message - that knives will not be tolerated.
But still the deaths caused by knives go on.
"Tackling knife culture, especially among young people, is paramount to the safety of our communities, and I am determined to reduce the devastation caused by knife crime," then Home Secretary Charles Clarke said in the spring of 2006.
Since then there has been a knife amnesty, numerous government initiatives and photo opportunities, with ministers slamming home the same message - that knives will not be tolerated.
But still the deaths caused by knives go on.
The real picture
According to the British Crime Survey (BCS), overall violent crime has decreased by 41% since a peak in 1995.
Knives are used in about 8% of violent incidents, according to the BCS, a level that has largely remained the same during the past decade.
But the BCS figures do not include under-16s, something which the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced this month would change.
Criminologist Kevin Stenson said the politicians needed to do more to address the problems of those aged under 16 and added: "They are the people who fear being attacked with knives, they carry them because they are scared and for respect. It is about macho status."
But Ife Igunnubole, a youth worker in Hackney, London, said knives and guns brought a sense of power to youths who felt powerlessness. He said: "There is a level of desperation on the streets, brought about by poverty, which is creating a culture of fear."
But the BCS figures do not include under-16s, something which the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced this month would change.
Criminologist Kevin Stenson said the politicians needed to do more to address the problems of those aged under 16 and added: "They are the people who fear being attacked with knives, they carry them because they are scared and for respect. It is about macho status."
But Ife Igunnubole, a youth worker in Hackney, London, said knives and guns brought a sense of power to youths who felt powerlessness. He said: "There is a level of desperation on the streets, brought about by poverty, which is creating a culture of fear."
'Poorer most at risk'
The falling age of victims is something that has been found with both knife and gun crime.
Mr Garside said: "Those living in poorer parts of town are inevitably most at risk. For many years the murder capital for knife crime has been Glasgow, but now we are seeing it as a major problem in Manchester and London and other cities."
Karyn McCluskey, head of Strathclyde's Violence Reduction Unit, said knife crime was endemic and dated back to the "razor gangs" of the 1920s.
She said: "People give all sorts of reasons why they carry knives, including protecting themselves. But a knife is not a weapon of defence, it's a weapon of offence."
Ms McCluskey said: "Much of it is to do with bravado. Machismo is a huge issue up here and the lack of role models too. We often get knives being used by grandfathers, fathers and sons.
"Part of the problem is that they don't have the skills to walk away. If they're in a taxi queue and it's raining and they've been drinking, if someone looks at them in a funny way there will be a fight. It's as simple as that."
She said some offenders mistakenly thought they could stab a rival in the buttocks without harm, but she added: "You can bleed to death if you hit a femoral artery. There is no safe place to stab anybody."
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Britain is facing a crisis of child-on-child violence and the prevailing attitude appears to be one of incoherent fire-fighting. Hard-hitting viral campaigns, metal detectors in schools, and tougher punishments for carrying weapons, are all good strategies which will hopefully have an immediate impact on violent youth behaviour, but they are simply prescriptive, stop-gap solutions.
Whilst we welcome these new measures to protect young people, we are acutely aware that they do not address the root causes of conflict and violent behaviours. Young people are using violence, fear and exclusion to intimidate and threaten others. It is bullying in its most extreme form. When bullying goes unchecked in our schools and communities, the breeding ground for gang culture prospers.
There have been 28 teenagers stabbed to death already this year. We also know that this year at least 20 young people will take their own lives because they are being bullied. Whether killed by another youth, or dying at their own hands, too many young people are being bullied to death.
What we need is a comprehensive, joined up, coherent strategy to educate our young people in conflict resolution, anti-violence and anti-bullying behaviour. Intervene early against bullying and we can affect the growing culture of knife crime and gang related behaviour. We know that poor inter-faith and inter-community relations, truancy, and violent behaviour are all linked to bullying. As a result, fully-inclusive anti-conflict and bullying prevention work is essential if we are to significantly address this dystopia in which our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbours, are being murdered and terrorised by someone else’s children.
Beatbullying realises that this is not a problem that can be solved in months, so where is the comprehensive five-year strategy from any of our political parties? The problem bridges all areas of society, so we need a cross-departmental response from Government. At the moment, despite the promises and the prescriptive acts, the lack of a long-term, joined up response based on education and prevention, is beyond belief. We need leadership and a strong Government must stand up for our youth now.
Education is the key, but the responsibility cannot lie solely at the feet of the teacher. Beatbullying and a coalition of expert organisations, can deliver proven conflict resolution, anti-violence and anti-bullying programmes into every school, intervening early to prevent the escalation into the youth crimes and murders we are witnessing on our streets every week. Beatbullying has calculated that it will cost £45million over five years, to deliver this work into schools and youth groups across the UK, reaching every child in this country.
The viral campaign launched yesterday will cost £3million, in the hope that it will shock youngsters into stop carrying knives. Who knows how many it will reach, or how effective it will be. It’s time to look beyond trying to patch up a problem with disjointed, prescriptive acts, and deliver a preventative solution to benefit every young person, and society as a whole, over the next five years.
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