Video games...are they an influence of the increase of knife crime?

Knife City, a spoof computer game in which a hooded youth is stabbed in a fight on a housing estate, is the centrepiece of a campaign created for the Met's latest 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.

It's Not A Game Website



Worried parents are buying body armour for their children in an attempt to keep them safe from street violence according to The Times. A firm that supplies stab- and bullet-proof vests to government agencies around the world has sold 60 jackets to concerned parents after several murders of teenagers on London streets. “They are concerned by what is happening on the streets — the level of violence. A 13-year-old girl has been our youngest customer but most are about 15 or 16. Most of the calls have been from London" a spokesman for the firm is reported as saying.

South London teenage gang Terror Zone (TZ) said in a rap track that they carry knives as if they were £10 notes. The Mitcham-based crew is blamed for the death of Thornton Heath teenager Eugene Attram in a street fight. On 'Got it Good' one member tells how "my niggas roll with shanks (knives) in their pockets like they're tenners". Another says: "I roll with a big shank, any nigga move to me, I push the blade though his piss tank." TZ is said to be involved in a feud with the Stick ’em Up Kids (SUK) from nearby Wandsworth. The violence turned deadly when Eugene, aged 16 and known to his friends as Fruge, was fatally stabbed in Mitcham. Shortly after the killing, an entry on a gang website read: "You can't move to attack TZ. If you move to TZ you will get shanked. Shanking Fruge was a warning." Police say there is no evidence to suggest that pastor's son Eugene was in a gang. A teenager who knows both gangs said: "It was a fight between the crews and Eugene was there with his friends. He didn't deserve to die."
Terror Zone Mixtape


10% of boys aged 11 and 12 are reported to have carried a knife or other weapon and 8% said they had attacked someone intending serious harm. By the age of 16, the figure had risen to 24% who have carried a knife and 16% who had attacked somebody intending harm. 'Fear and Fashion' sets out the the extent and causes of young people carrying knives and other weapons. It deals with some of the approaches being currently adopted to tackle the problem and makes recommendations.
The use of knives and other weapons by young people

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.
The Economic and Social Research Council


What is behind the current knife epidemic? What can be done to stem the rise in knife-related violence amongst young people? Get in touch and let us know your views.


My boyfriend was in TZ and moved away before Eugene's death but when he moved away and escaped the trouble TZ weren't happy. I think they will kill him if they see him. Please to any gangs out there, grow up before u get thrown in pen, u don't want 2 liv lives of guilt! — Anonimous


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


Any 1 can stab some 1, it don’t make u bad, it just takes someone’s life away. We need to stop this happening as most stabbings are racially targeted to all colours of man dem out there. Every 1 has feelings inside, no matter what the race, everyone hurts when hit and no man is invincible so drop de knifes. Think of families, mums and dads who suffer when they get that news when they’ve heard their son’s been stabbed through the heart and died. Walk away from conflict cause u get 1 life so enjoy it in peace with every youth out there and try and stay calm and open minded with everything. Don’t hold grudges because only 1 man will get hurt. — Movin South


RIP Jacob... An eye for an eye brings blindness. Put the knife away. Stabbing some one don’t make u hard, it just kills a person. Every day a man dies and yet another life is born, the start to the end. If u use a knife u waste your life. — Tauren


He didn't deserve 2 die. Dats not fair. Gangs is bad. — Y Major