Our young timebombs need to be defused
From the The Bolton News, first published Wednesday 29th Aug 2007.
THE boss of the London company now helping a Bolton organisation change the lives of violent youngsters believes that the rise in people carrying knives is down to fear.
Michael Gross says that if a person goes out with a weapon "it is not because they want to use it because they know what the consequences will be, it is a reaction to the fear of a threat, whether that be the threat of violence or some sort of peer group pressure".
Staff from Chameleon Ltd worked successfully with gangs in problem spots, including Brixton, using a variety of methods such as one-to-one mentoring and discussion workshops.
Now, Respect Counselling, which works with young offenders in the Bolton area, has enlisted its help to try to improve matters here.
We certainly need it.
As one Farnworth youngster recovers in hospital from a stab wound, the family of his friend Andrew Holland, also 16, mourn his death in the same incident.
This is obviously not just a local problem. Shortly after Andrew's death, an 11 year-old boy was shot dead in Liverpool. He was not in a gang and was just returning home from football.
Although no-one wants to damn all teenagers - it's tough enough trying to be "normal" in today's pressurised climate - but it is a terrible fact that today some children are extremely aggressive and capable of real violence.
Tellingly, if Michael Gross and his associates have found that the way to pacify such youngsters and ease them back into a more tolerant and peaceable place in society is to listen to them and discuss their feelings, then all the signs point firmly back home.
Parents who "pay" their children to get out of the house and not bother them, or who refuse to make time to talk to them and keep the lines of communication open, are storing up problems - both for themselves and for the community.
Disgruntled, disaffected children can translate hurt feelings into confrontation, which may swiftly move into violence.
We parents have a duty of care which includes mental welfare as well as physical wellbeing. It's not an easy job, but when we fail - especially in the former - we're setting timebombs, ready to explode outside the home.
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