There have been numerous incidents of young people engaging themselves in crime all over the world. Most of these crimes are carried out in gangs and not individuals. At a young age, one can be influenced easily by peers to do things, either positive or negative. Toxic peer pressure has led to the emergence of more crime gangs as children grow into their teen years. In the adolescence stage, children tend to be rebellious, and without proper care and guidance, they end up in these gangs.
London has recently been experiencing a lot of knife crime and gang violence with the young people being the proprietors. It has become part of their day-to-day living: friends around talking about it, you hear it on the news, and gossip of one more student arrested for murder or attempted murder in a case where the victim survives. It has also been noted that the towns experiencing the highest crime rate have the highest fallout of young people from the Youth Clubs. This is happening in other parts of the world, too. According to an investigation carried out by BBC, teenagers in Liverpool are being offered up to £1000 to stab their fellow youngsters.
Many things lead to youth violence. The most common ones are drugs, unemployment, lack of trust in the government or rather the police, racial and class tension, school expulsion, among others. With all the exposure that comes with this generation, it's close to impossible for parents and guardians to completely shield their young ones. The governments in various countries are also trying their best to stop youth crime in every necessary way, but it isn't working. Instead, these young people find more ways of hiding from them. The question of the effectiveness of the strategies applied by the concerned parties is wanting.
Hayaati Njuki, a 24-year-old volunteer at a youth center in London, was a gang member when she was a teenager growing up in Tottenham. She said that the cuts for youth centers had made the young generation more reckless. According to her, these centers don't give young people a purpose in life. Instead, they just major in telling them what not to do.
A young man who once lived in the States said that all his male friends were involved in either drugs, gangs, crimes, or all three. One of his friends was recently jailed for killing another teen on a bus early this year. According to him, the centers should work on attracting these boys from the streets and showing them that there's more to life than violence. Most of these young ones are just having an identity crisis, and they only need someone to talk to and understand them. Otherwise, they will stay away from the centers; it won't feel like home.
When handling such groups, one should talk to them, not in the manner of “Don't do that because you'll get into trouble,” but instead “Don't do it because you're going to ruin your life now and in the future.” After they discover their purpose, they can be taught skills that will keep them busy and help pay bills or instead, open up a business for them. The centers can help with startup capital. Then, they can get a business loan from Dealstruck or any other lending organizations to assist in establishing their business. This approach will help immensely in reducing crimes among the youth.
