Young people from Manchester talk about gun and knife crime “The 11 MILLION children and young people in England have a voice” Children’s

1

Young people from Manchester talk about gun and knife crime

www.11MILLION.org.uk

“The 11 MILLION children and young people in England have a voice” Children’s Commissioner for England, Professor Sir Al Aynsley-Green

15-year-old female from

Manchester

2




Why do young people carry knives?

• “I think young people carry knives to feel protected or they might feel that they are hard just because they are carrying a knife but they don’t realise the consequences of carrying a knife.”

3




Are young people scared of knife crime?

• “I think people from different areas, they might have heard something about knife crime that’s gone on in [another] area so they might feel that if they go in that area that it might happen to them… but it might not happen as often as the newspapers are saying.”

4




Do you know young people who carry knives?

• “I know of one boy [who carries a knife] but I don’t really know of many. He is 11 nearly 12.

• I asked him the reason why he carries a knife and he says because he feels protected. He’s afraid of what’s going to come even though he’s not part of any gangs or anything.”

5




What are the consequences for him for carrying a knife?

• “He might end up hurting somebody or he might get himself into really deep trouble or it could get it put on his criminal record.”

6




How available are knives?

• “Knives are very available because you can just go in your kitchen drawer and get the sharpest knife there is there, so they’re very available.”

7




Can stop and search help reduce knife crime?

• “Stop and search could help a little but as well people might feel intimidated about somebody touching them and going into their own personal space.”

8




Have you been stopped and searched?

• “No, but I know a couple of friends [who have]. They said that they didn’t like it because they didn’t like the way the police were touching them and the way they were talking to them and that they weren’t talking to them politely, they were talking in a rude manner.”

9




Are you against stop and search?

• “No, not really because I think it’s helped to reduce [knife crime] a little but as well people that are carrying knives might just end up walking past police while an innocent person is getting searched.”

10




What should happen to people caught carry knives?

• “They should get the knife taken off them as well they should be told the dangers of carrying a knife and maybe given a warning.”

11




What should happen to a young person who uses a knife?

• “I think they should get locked up and as well I think that during the time they are locked up someone should go up to them and talk to them and ask them the real reason why they are carrying a knife.”

12




Does the media coverage reflect the amount of knife crime there is?

• “I think a little bit because young people might read a newspaper and hear about this stabbing or something and then they think I should carry a knife just in case that happens to me.”

13




18-year-old male from Manchester

14




Why do some young people carry knives?

• “There’s no specific person who carries a knife. Anyone is capable.• I come from somewhere which is meant to be a difficult place, but I don’t carry a

knife, I have never carried a knife. But other people around here, who have the same background, they do carry a knife.

• It’s just the choice I made and the choice they made. Maybe I know that if I do carry a knife it’s going to get me in trouble, you know, with the police or I’m going to get hurt, and then I can’t do what I want with my life.

• But maybe they don’t think they have much of a life, or maybe they don’t understand what will happen to them.”

15




Why do some young people carry knives? (continued)

• “There are a few reasons for young people carrying a knife.• They might feel threatened because they think other people are carrying them.• It’s a fashion accessory to some people, who want to look hard, or it could be for criminal

use, people who actually want to use them.• But it’s like a chain reaction. If someone knows someone else has a knife they carry one

and then that person gets in a fight and uses it and so more people carry them because they’re frightened thinking that lots of other people are carrying them.”

16




How old are young people who carry knives?

• “I think the age range [for carrying knives] is from 15 up, maybe younger, I don’t know for sure.”

17




How available are knives?

• “Knives are very available to all ages. They’re not illegal and you can just get them from your own house. They’re less available in shops but if you’re over 18, or if you look over 18, there’s no reason why you can’t get a knife.”

18




How much knife crime is there?

• “In London the media coverage reflects the amount of knife crime. It happens in other places but when I think of knife crime I think of London.

• But here [Manchester] too there’s definitely more young people carrying them than five years ago, and the crime rate has gone up for young people involved in knife crime and violence, which is obviously going to happen if more people carry knives.”

19




What do you think of stop-and-search?

• “In my experience of stop and search policies, they haven’t been effective.”• “I’ve been stopped and searched more times than many people I know are involved

in carrying knives.”• “I’ve never been arrested because I’ve never carried a knife.”• “But I’ve been stopped and searched so many times since the age of 14 I’ve lost

count.”• “Some of the police can be very good. They can be normal and speak to you in a

polite manner.”

20




What do you think of stop-and-search? (Continued)

• “Some are very heavy-handed and assume you’re a criminal.• I know they’re doing their job and there would be no order without police but certain

police officers are over the top. They don’t help the situation. They worsen the feeling towards the police. Generally young people don’t like the police.

• Stop and search can be a good policy but it needs to be done properly.• There’s a way to get round stop and search. Only if you’re in groups is when you get

stopped and it depends how you dress. If I’m wearing jeans and just casual clothes and if I’m on my own, I won’t be stopped. But if I’m in a group wearing trackies I’m more likely to be stopped.”

21




What should happen to young people who carry knives?

• “If they’re caught carrying a knife I think they should get a minimal sentence like probation something like that.

• What good does locking them up do? You need to ask why they’re carrying and if they understand the seriousness. Locking them up would be bad because they could get worse. They should get intervention. Help and advice. People should sit them down, find out the reasons and educate them.”

22




What should happen to young people who use knives?

• “If you use the knife the sentence should be heavy. They need to be deterred. Young people are doing it because they are getting away with it.

• When they are locked up they should have counselling so that they learn what they are doing wrong and the reasons behind it.”

23





24




“I THINK you can see that young people who are into gun and knife crime have had problems before.You know, maybe they looked up to a person who is older like their dad.If that person has an influence on them they are going to copy them.And if that’s a bad influence, then they’ll copy the bad things.It’s not just parents but other adults as well. It’s those people they look up to and some of them let them down. I have some friends who that has happened to.

25




“You can look at a family’s background and you can see how that kids might turn out.It’s not going to be good for a kid if that family has problems, you know, like parents who are into crime. But it doesn’t mean that that’s that.You can get in there and talk to them and get through to them and make a change. It’s not too late.But you need to carry on that kind of work, you can’t just drop it.

26




“These young people who have guns don’t have any confidence in themselves. Why do they carry them?You have to be confident in yourself to do the right thing, to know what’s right and what’s wrong.But they can’t deal with the peer pressure, that’s why they carry weapons [guns].They don’t have the confidence to say no. Some of them know what the consequences are, that they could get locked up for shooting someone or for maybe carrying.

27




“The consequences for carrying a knife is a fine, or you could end up killing someone even if you did not mean it. It could be a simple accident.If you are a member of a gang you are safer to have a gun or a knife [because you are at risk].But a guy who is not in a gang carrying a knife, he will feel safer but he will not actually be safer because he wasn’t unsafe in the first place.He is putting himself at more risk of being caught and of being hurt and of hurting them [someone else].

28




“People who carry guns have no self-esteem. Why are they not looking for a job, trying to do something with their lives? It shows they have no hopes for themselves.But everyone once would have high hopes for their lives. They want a nice house and a nice car but as they get older they can’t see another way.They’re disgusting, the people who carry guns. There’s so much stuff you can do in life.”

29





30




“YOU can tell at a young age [if a young person will get into gun or knife crime].You can tell by their behaviour, or what they see around them.If you have been brought up in a lifestyle from young where there’s crime or where the older ones, you know, your older brothers or your dad, are just hanging about or if the adults are in gangs, you say I want to do that. Your family life plays a part.

31




“If you have been brought up with manners and respect then there’s less chance.Caribbean kids are brought up with respect.If the mum and dad do nothing or smoke weed or drink, then, you know, it’s what you see and what you are brought up around.

32




“Young people who carry guns have given up hope. They are put down, that’s the way the system is.It makes you think there’s no way of getting out.If you try to get a job and you write down that you are from some places, you might have a slight chance.But if you say some other places, like where I am from, they’re just going to put it in the bin.

33




“I have been applying for a year for a mechanic’s job and I can’t get anything.I have got my level two, I’m in Connexions every day.I want my level three so I need an apprenticeship.I have aspirations, I have high hopes. I don’t give up. But some days...I’ve had chances where I could have picked up a gun. I think to myself there are times when I’m getting nowhere.

34




“These people who now carry guns, they would have said once I want to do this, I want to do that. But they start losing their hopes.In the Caribbean if you did lots wrong, you would not get kicked out of school unless if was really bad.You know, here you get kicked out for having fights. Why?In the Caribbean you get detention. Then you are getting something out of as well as it being a punishment.

35




“My role models are anybody. Anybody can be.Good role models are good people.It’s showing a good example. I see my mum as a role model, sometimes even though we don’t really get along.I see my dad as a role model sometimes. He’s done good. He came from nothing. He gets paid loads, £47 an hour. He does carpentry, plumbing. He works for himself.

36




“Celebrities do have an influence, and if some young people who are into rap music, they see it all, and they want the music, the girls, the cars.Yeah, everyone wants that but it’s how you get it.What for me to be successful is to be one of the best mechanics.It’s not about fame. I want my own garage. That’s success for me.

37




“If you don’t believe in yourself how are others going to believe in you. They need confidence in themselves. I know I need to put the work in to do it.”

38




“There’s a difference between people who carry guns or knives.People who carry guns are going out there to do crime, to kill.People who carry knives are not, I don’t think.They are scared or they are trying to protect themselves.”

39




“I don’t see many adults round here that I can look up to.I have my mum. She’s a good role model. She has taught me what respect means, she’s taught me so much about life, about what’s right and wrong.But seeing an adult smoking weed in front of a kid or doing crime. They are leading kids astray.[There are role models] in schools and [there are] youth workers, and my family are fine.I want to see someone I can really look up to, someone who shows the right example, who helps kids not do crime, who does good for them.

40




“Young people don’t listen necessarily to adults, they listen more to their friends and their peers or people who are a little bit older. I’m a good role model for young people. Some [good] role models are celebrities. They have influence. But some are bad role models too, if they are gangsters or do bad things.

41




“It’s up to you [whether you get into crime]. It’s your choice. Everyone has their own life. It’s you. It’s what you want to be.I’ve lived here for seven years and I could be a gangster. You know, there’s nothing to do round here, and all that. I could have a bad attitude. But I did not want it. People choose, at the end of the day.”

Documents

Young people from Manchester talk about gun and knife crime “The 11 MILLION children and young people in England have a voice” Children’s