Comments on: Children and Violence

By: rogerharris

rogerharris — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:09:02 +0000

I just spent a day in glasgow jail locked in with six prisoners waiting trial. What struck me was that these were grown men, several in their 30’s even 40 plus, yet when they opened their mouths absolute shite emerged. The jail talk made no sense whatsover, except to each other. It was like a parallel universe of fast talking, bullshit. Nowhere in that day did i hear anything that resembled a normal group interaction, except we had a black migrant in that cell. He was having a great time, speaking their game as well as playing his own. It appears that criminal behaviour attracts even more intelligent criminals to come here, so you can expect the problem to increase.

My experience being on the inside rub, hearing the moral level justified prisoner to prisoner in the cells revealed to me that violence is the gateway to the majority of crime. These men percieve that they can resort to violence and still have some piece of their life to live for. The answer is to double, even triple sentences for violent crime, and think of non custodial ways to punish the other offences.

When you have a clear line between violence and everything else, you effective shut the door to the majority of crime, as most if is relies on violent struggle or the threat of violence.

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By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 11:14:41 +0000

The lack of physical recreational facilities aside; scouting, swimming and sports programmes, we live in an age when kids have more peaceful and beneficial pursuits available to them than ever before. We do seem to have the challenge of a child obesity problem to avert but still, in real terms, today’s generation of kids have more to do than my own peaceful and innocent generation of thirty years ago. So what has changed? It seems to me that the most obvious change has been the de-sensitisation of violence that has come about largely as a result of much more violent films and television being shown. In the same way that US war veterans who fought in Vietnam were de-sensitised our children are becoming so, encouraged by the decapitations etc. that they now see in all forms of media including their video “games”. From this new “entertainment” they are seeing the action but missing the pain it causes. In an age of DVD players an “X” certificate has no meaning. Do we really have to stop and think so hard to understand why they are using knives and guns?
When I was ten, Zebedee told me to go to bed just before the six ‘o clock news and I did. The ten-year-olds of today could would never bother with The Magic Roundabout in the first place but if they did, they’d have “miles to go before they sleep” (perhaps in the form of “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction”).

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By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 12:32:53 +0000

Boris (and the Gunz Down team) make a telling point that often kids don’t know how to back down / walk away – particularly if their home life features high levels of unmanaged aggression or histrionic behaviour. Showing kids that there is another practical way to deal with confrontation has got to be a good thing. Next step is to get the football “heroes” to accept referees’ decisions like the rugby players have to.

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By: Pravda

Pravda — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:48:15 +0000

All, or mostly true, both Boris and the comments. However, a good part of gang culture is also centred on finance and territory, capitalism in the raw, the drugs trade. It would be difficult, and probably pointless since gangs would simply grow new tentacles, to tackle one without tackling the other. The propensity of kids to use a knife might perhaps be better tackled as a separate problem.

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By: Steven_L

Steven_L — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:56:25 +0000

Nice to see Boris getting his incredibly large brain around London and the present social (and future economic) problems in our capital city.

I think the solution is more cricket in our schools. All schoolboys (how sexist of me) should bat and bowl in the nets instead of basketball in the winter, and outdoor cricket instead of softball in the summer.

Nothing like a good net to work off that junkfood bowling and release that frustration with a few rasping cover drives.

Can you imagine the Americans making their schoolkids play cricket instead of baseball, or rugby instead of American Football?

We’ve imported too much US culture, not that I have anything against US culture, but our cops don’t have guns and most people want to keep it that way.

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By: PaulD

PaulD — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 22:47:42 +0000

Sorry to change the subject but I’m so very angry. I have just watched the BBC News on Al Gore getting the Nobel Prize, sharing it with the IPCC.

Reporting the fact is fine. Making it the lead story, and letting it run seemingly for ever, smacks of poor news-value judgement. Furiously plugging a “climate change special” they have put together in celebration of the prize (magnificent excuse) is highly suspicious, since the BBC has already been stopped from staging its Warm Nose Day, or whatever it was to be called, after strong objections from people questioning its political balance.

But what really wound me up was a short phrase from the commentator – the “dwindling number of climate sceptics”. Dwindling number? Almost everyone I talk to these days is deeply sceptical of the whole business. Their scepticism will now turn to disgust at the sight of a failed politician being sainted for pushing dodgy science at vast financial advantage to himself – ratified, if you please, by the once respected academics who pick the Nobel winners.

Is there anyone left to respect? How much more if this can we take?

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By: Captain Badger

Captain Badger — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 21:18:16 +0000

To do what you say, it would use ultrasound and do a bunch of pattern recognition to put together the shape of hard objects under soft clothing.

Don’t know too much about that, but I guess it doesn’t work yet or it would be used heavily in Iraq.

I think the most dangerous accoutrement of johnny yob is his p*ss poor attitude. Ridding him of this will take more than some clever gadgets.

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By: PaulD

PaulD — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:21:46 +0000

That’s a Gordon Brown solution – try and deal with people problems with technology. (Cap’n Badger)

Heaven forbid! I agree entirely that throwing technology at a problem often doesn’t work, but a tool designed specifically to target this kind of menace would be extremely useful – and morally more acceptable than CCTV.

It wouldn’t stop the formation of gangs but would certainly help to rid them of their most dangerous accoutrement. Isn’t that the whole idea?

Ed – airport stripper? You’re teasing. No, this device is quite different from an airport metal detector which just… er… detects metal. It is an imaging device showing a clear outline of the object at some distance.

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By: Captain Badger

Captain Badger — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:39:14 +0000

That’s a Gordon Brown solution – try and deal with people problems with technology. They tend to be expensive, and largely ineffective.

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By: Jamie

Jamie — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:25:35 +0000

It’s interesting; the points you made about the emotional reasons for joining gangs in the UK (“sanctuary, where children can find affirmation and esteem and respect, even for doing terrible things”) are exactly the recruiting sergeants for the favela gangs in Brazil.
We really don’t want to see that horrific level of violence and utter lawlessness here, but it looks like we’re heading that way.

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