KNIFE CRIME KNIFE CRIME
Lighting fires
“I believe that it is better
to learn from the diverse
people around us than to
Life beyond the
try in vain to emulate them,
better to be a teacher than
a role model. As strong
as my legs are, it is my
school gates
mind that has made me a
champion.”
Michael Johnson
“Education has produced a
Knife crime
He said: “after school, everyone will basically meet Mr Kershen contends that what we should address vast population able to read
in the park if there’s a fight and they’ll make it into a in the future when dealing with young people and
has dominated
big thing, where 50 people will all go to watch. They’re violence is how we can try and educate our children
but unable to distinguish
usually just about dumb stuff – when everyone’s and work with them to let them know that the choice is
messing about at lunchtime, someone might kick a ball theirs to make, and that adults do have a lot to offer in
what is worth reading.”
recent news
and hit someone’s head.” terms of experience and finding out how to behave and GM Trevelyan
i wonder what Ben sees as the reason for the rise in respond to situations.
headlines, but
knife crime. “i think it’s because people don’t realise He said: “at the moment, what schools don’t do is
that if you stab someone you could be spending five facilitate, what they do is instruct. What we should be
“Action may not always
what do our teenagers
years in prison. i don’t know, maybe they just don’t saying is, ‘this is what i did, this is what happened, but
bring happiness, but there
care about spending time in prison but when they get that might not happen to you. you’ve got the choice to
there they do care.” make and i’m going to help you make that choice, but
actually think? Ilana
is no happiness without
daniel Kershen is community mediation director at i’m not going to tell you what to choose. We’re going
the Centre for Peaceful Solutions (CPS), a charity based to look at it together and instead of taking your power action.”
Leonard, a student herself,
in Brent, north London, which aims to contribute to the away, i’m going to give you more power to make a
Benjamin Disraeli
development of a peaceful community by changing decision by giving you more perspective’.”
talks to one schoolboy
attitudes to conflict through mediation and non-violent Mr Kershen would like to see more organisations
communication. He is currently working in secondary like CPS set up in London. He added: “if a teenager is
“The principal goal of
about his experiences of
schools in areas that suffer from youth violence. using a knife, then in order to get that kid to say ‘okay,
He told me: “if we completely disempower young i don’t need this knife anymore’, we need to be able education is to create men
people from making their own decisions, then there to empower them fully, or we need to be able to allow
being aged 14 in London
is going to be a reaction against that and so teenagers them to empower themselves fully, so that they’ve got
who are capable of doing
are going to start carrying knives to re-empower something which replaces the knife, which would be a
themselves – because of the sense of lack of power that set of techniques which work to resolve conflict.
new things, not simply
edia frenzy would have they get from being punished, from being completely “non-violent communication should be something
of repeating what other
M
us believe that we live in a disempowered. This is not only from their parents, but that is taught to all children, but at the same time we
city where a soulless new also by means of the institutions that we’ve set up to try need to pinch ourselves and make sure that we’re taking generations have done.”
breed of demon delinquents and assist them to move forward with their lives, such into account the reality of the situation which we find
Jean Piaget
run riot. Headlines like, Thugs as schools and the law. ourselves in.” SecEd
committing 350 knife assaults “Conversely, on the other hand, we may give young
every day, do not do much to people too much responsibility to make their own decisions • Ilana Leonard is a final year journalism student at the
“No-one is so poor as an
help you get to sleep at night. and judgements. What we’ve got to realise is that a child’s University of Westminster in London.
We are currently bombarded from every angle about mind is not developed to the stage of an adult’s min
d and ignorant person.”
the knife crime “epidemic”, but are the teenagers of so if we leave them to fend for themselves, they’re going
Further information
Hebrew Proverb
today really that much worse that the generations of to find the easiest solution to achieve their aims, which
www.centreforpeacefulsolutions.org
youngsters that came before? often is carrying a knife or a gun.”
“Ben”, 14, lives in Camden, north London, and is Mr Kershen believes that fostering greater
currently in year 10 at a state school in Barnet. There understanding between teachers and pupils is key to
is nothing special about his situation. His school is helping curb the rise in youth violence and knife crime.
not considered one of the worst. He does not have
a criminal record. He has been suspended once, but
generally gets good grades. He could be described as
your average GCSe student.
i am only seven years older than Ben and can
vividly remember my own troubled times at secondary
school, nonetheless listening to his experiences proved
truly eye-opening in terms of what it means to be a
‘
This is certainly not
a call for teachers to
start carrying knives, but
14-year-old living in London today. He told me that he
knows quite a few boys his age who carry knives.
“They don’t carry knives everyday,” he said, “and
in order to understand
wouldn’t usually take them to school, but would carry
one if someone wanted to beat them up or if they
the inner processes, the
thought they were going to see someone that they’d had
a fight with. Some guys show them off to look hard.”
unconscious influences
Ben has been approached before by a boy with a
knife that had wanted to steal his phone but does not
really worry about getting stabbed – he says he would
and drivers in the life of
•
just give them what they wanted. This is all pretty much
along the lines of the expected. What is alarming are his this young person, one •
explanations of his dealings with the police.
Ben has been stopped by the police around six times
has to be empathetic to •
and thinks that the reason for this is because he wears
a tracksuit and is a teenager. He has only ever been
stopped when he is with friends. He describes three
their psychology
incidents, all of which took place at around 6pm.
“One time, when i was outside a shop in Camden
– the police are going down hard on it there – a police
van drove by and two minutes later, about five or six
police officers ran around the corner and grabbed me
’
•
He continued: “The fundamental thing that must be
addressed in order to shift any perspectives is dialogue •
specifically with the people directly involved in the
up against the wall. They were really rude and they had situation. as counter-intuitive as it may seem, as stated
me like this (he grips his hands around his neck) against by Sun Tzu, ‘in order to understand the enemy, you
the wall. They were being quite violent and they were have to become the enemy’.
searching us for knives. “first let us change the word enemy into “thing you
“another time when me and my friends got stopped want to change”, whether that change is eradicating
and searched, one of the policemen said ‘have you lot destruction, or building understanding. This is certainly
got homes to go to?’. i said yeah, and he replied, ‘well not a call for teachers to start carrying knives, but in
why don’t you just fuck off to them then?’ order to understand the inner processes, the unconscious
“i don’t know what they can actually do, but you influences and drivers in the life of this young person,
can’t really say anything. it makes me angry.” one has to be empathetic to their psychology. This
Ben recalls another night when he says the police alone, if done correctly will at least give an insight into
drove him back to his house and took his friend, who the reasons why a pupil has acted the way that they
had planned to sleep over, all the way back to his house, have.”
“even though they never even found anything”. Mr Kershen added that this alone is not en
Ben continued: “if you’re out in Camden and you’re
ough,
explaining that the pupil needs to know that you have
under 16, then police are allowed to take you home. “empathically understood” what they have said.
i think that’s bad because me and my friend weren’t He added: “One technique that is used frequently for
doing anything, we were just standing there waiting for its effectiveness is active listening, which at its base is to
another mate so we could go back to my house and they check by asking whether your description of what you
ruined the whole night. They never found anything, we have heard is in fact what the other person wanted you
never had anything.” to hear, in order to form clarity of meaning and sincere,
i ask Ben if there are any fights between pupils in his full understanding between teacher and pupil. from this
class, and what kind of thing they are usually about. point, a constructive relationship can be formed.”
SecEd • February 12 2009
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