The government has invested three million pounds into an advertising campaign to tackle youth knife crime.
This is in response to a
survey taken by the Youth Justice Board which has found that 29% of secondary school children and 57% of those excluded admitted to routinely carrying knives.
The advertisements show graphic images of real injures inflicted by knives to shock teenagers into recognising the dangers of knife crime.
One of the adverts shows a man with a knife and a screwdriver in his chest. Another shows
CCTV footage performed by actors showing a stabbing by youths on a shopping street.
‘It is not a game’The Metropolitan Police in London have also used this method of reaching teenagers by producing their own adverts.
In 2005 they released
'Knife City', a mock computer game that blends computer generated images with real life footage. This was distributed via DVD to thousands of teenagers across London over two weeks. The Metropolitan Police have said that the advert is designed to communicate to teenagers the tragic personal and criminal consequences of carrying a knife. The viewer is shown that carrying a knife has real consequences unlike in a computer game.
What do young people think?
Students from Holy Cross Catholic High School in Chorley were asked what they thought of the 'Knife City' advert and whether they thought it was effective in preventing knife crime amongst teenagers.
The younger students asked, who were aged between 13 and 14, thought that the advert would have been more effective without the animation. They said: "It would have been better if it was all real rather than switching from animation to real life."
They went on to say that the most effective part was seeing the mother of the young stab victim crying when she sees her son fatally injured. This made the students realise that knife crime affects those around you, especially your family.
The other group of students asked were aged between 14 and 16 years of age. They recognised the similarity between the advert and the video game 'Grand Theft Auto'.
'Grand Theft Auto' is a violent video game about stealing cars which is targeted at people aged 18 and above. Like 'Knife City' it switches between reality and animation. The similarities between 'Knife City' and 'Grand Theft Auto' may imply that the advert is aimed at older teenagers who are familiar with the game.
These students felt that the advert stereotyped all boys of this type as knife carriers. They said: "The advert makes out that all of us who wear hoodies and dress like the kids in the video carry knives. In reality it isn't like that."
After being informed that 'Knife City' appealed more to older teenagers because of its similarity with 'Grand Theft Auto' I asked 20 year- old Richard Jerman what he thought of the advert.
Richard Jerman speaking about 'Knife City'
The other advert released by the Metropolitan Police ‘Not a Good Look’ destroys the false belief that carrying a knife is fashionable.
The knife carrier is rejected by his friends and made to look stupid. The advert also gives the viewer the opportunity to make the knife carrier look ridiculous by dressing him in silly clothing.
Increased punishment In addition to the advertising campaign the government has also introduced other measures to tackle the growing knife crime epidemic in the UK.
It has increased the punishment for young knife offenders. Anyone aged 16 or over in England and Wales who carries a knife faces automatic prosecution and a possible four year jail sentence. Previously youths under the age of 18 could only be issued with a caution.
Visiting victims Young people who carry knives may also be made to visit knife victims in hospital in a bid to make them recognise the consequences of their actions. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith hopes that “gruesome” injures will be a stronger deterrent than a prison sentence for young offenders. This idea has been attacked by critics who feel that allowing offenders to visits knife victims in hospitals will distress the patient too much.
Teacher’s powers The government has also given teachers greater powers in schools to tackle knife crime. They are now able to stop and search any pupil who they think is carrying a knife. Pupils caught with a knife will be face suspension or exclusion from school.
Parental responsibility Police officers will also be making visits to the homes of young knife offenders to speak to their parents.
The former Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Ian Blair stated in a
speech on May 29 2008 that it was a parent’s responsibility to stop their children from carrying knives. He said that it was time for “tough love” and that parents had to give a strong anti knife message to their children.
It is hoped that these measures will help to address the knife crime problem in the UK where currently a
knife incident happens every 25 minutes.
Some of the knives collected by Lancashire Police in the past month 
Police from Lancashire’s Armed Response unit are going into secondary schools to educate pupils about the dangers of carrying a knife. They do this though a presentation called ‘Be Sharp Think Sharp’.
