Community Life

There’s been a media frenzy surrounding the growing phenomenon of gang culture in inner cities across the capital. 

The latest figures from the police show there are around 169 gangs currently active in London.  And if this figure is not startling enough, take the fact that 91 percent of gangs are made up of African Caribbean or British born blacks, together with the knowledge that a fifth of the capital’s youth crime are committed by gangs. 

This all points to the fact that the answer to the problem must in someway lie in getting into the minds of the gang members.

Andre Smith-Thomas, 19,  is responsible for starting one of Croydon’s largest gangs. 

“We need to give the kids something to feel as though, they’re looked on as something other than as gang members.  They’re not gang members, these are scared little children.  A lot of them do things, then go home and cry over it”, said Andre.

The future looks bright

Today, thanks to a community based music project, Andre has turned his life around.  He’s currently in college training to be a plumber. 

“Mine started when I was stabbed by my father and then I had a baby boy on the way, so that’s what kind of made me realise I needed to do something else.” ...  “Getting stabbed made me realise that life was too short”,  said Andre.

But, according to Andre, as long as society continues to view these young people as simply vicious thugs, they will continue to behave anti-socially. 

Andre said:  “They’re not really caring about themselves;   if they don’t care about themselves, they’re not going to care about any of their fellow brothers so, they’re going to shoot each other.” 

Andre was able to change his life but, unless society gets to the root cause of why young people are seduced into gangs, he fear there's a generation we could have lost.

your views

Tsubaki-koi - a pen name wrote the following comment.  What do you think?  Do you have any personal experience you would like to share with me?

"I grew up in a violent household, where our gated community parents and their privately educated kids turned their eyes ‘politely’ away. My two sisters had to live through that as well.

Reflecting on this personal experience, I’m fairly certain the truth is that most children today grow up in a similar environment. Many old spins on the same basic problem that there is something to be angry about in the smallest of society’s units – the family home.

That anger, combined with the common youths’ misconception that they are alone in this world; that no one will understand them and that they are going through their stresses alone, will manifest in so many different ways.

Its not just gangs! From supposedly random bursts of violent behaviour to simple bullying. I believe these are the results of some form of personal unrest. With all the negative emotion sitting around to simmer over, what else can be expected?

I am a firm believer that the key here is for the youths to have more opportunities to properly socialise and bond with others in their age group, to open up and realise that they are NOT alone.

It sounds cheesy but something as simple as dance class, gymnastics or a sports program help children, preteens and even teenagers to become more sociable and adjusted individuals.

These sort of environments are structured and programmed, providing a good learning ground for teamwork and empathy, to encourage individuals to think outside of everyday ‘single person’ worries.

Not to mention these would provide a venue for them to vent their negative emotions as well as discover the positive ones.

Giving our city’s youths the chance to do something else other than be bored and angry is a very good way to spend the city’s money.

Many boroughs have the right idea of it, but lack of promotion, properly qualified teachers and good venues with the right equipment are few and far between.

On that note, how dare Mr Brown close down community centres, and talk so calmly about the out-of-control Olympic budget!!!"

Email your comments to evadney.campbell@bbc.oc.uk