Juvenile crime? Blame it on the family

Knife offences are on the increase in Britain. Apparently there is a knife crime committed every four minutes - over 130,000 last year according to the British Crime Survey. Any discrepancy between this figure and official England and Wales police statistics is because separate figures are kept for Scotland and Northern Ireland. Also incidents where juveniles under 16 are involved are not recorded by the police.

What has drawn public attention to the horror of knife crime is the high number of teenage murders this year. At the time of writing 21 people, which does not include adults.

It is difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the alarming increase, but incidents of youth carrying some form of weapon, usually a knife, is on the increase because knife crime is on the increase, as is gang culture. Therefore as juvenile knife crime increases so, exponentially, will the carrying of knives increase as a form of protection against knife attack. Kill or be killed - almost a return to the "shoot first and ask questions afterwards" lawlessness of the Wild West.

The British government and police forces seem at a loss on how to put an end to the phenomenon gaining popularity with certain sections of youth. It is estimated that five per cent of young people are responsible for over half of youth crime. It is alleged that most of that crime is restricted to inner cities, areas that suffer the most poverty and where the least educated reside. Surely these factors alone must hold an underlying reason why there is so much crime?

It cannot be attributed to unemployment as many of the juvenile criminals are not old enough for employment but instead should be at school. Yet there is also a high percentage of youth who are school drop-outs or truants, which the social services are either too busy to follow up, or too disinclined. Combined with parents who often are themselves inadequately educated or have least concern for their wards, it leaves the children free to do whatever they want. And that often includes being in the company of older children who give them the missing friendship and respect, while leading them astray.

Hands tied

Sadly many parents do not accept it as their responsibility to bring up their children correctly, believing instead that school teachers should impose discipline. Yet in many areas, teachers' hands are tied due to liberal-minded lawmakers who have, over successive years, restricted the types of punishment that can be meted out to errant pupils. Equally, parents of unruly children are the ones most likely to complain if any correction is applied.

There are no instant miracle cures that will make all wrongs right. What is happening now in Britain is a reflection of the general decline in some parts of Britain that has taken place over successive years, with scant attention being paid to it by governments and politicians of all political persuasions.

Some silly suggestions have been put forward in the past couple of days, as if the recommendations will discourage youth from their criminal activities. The Home Secretary Jacqui Smith put forward the idea that those convicted of knife offences should visit the victims in hospital, so they could see the results of their handiwork. However it is more likely the criminals will see it as an accolade for what they have done rather than any form of punishment. But then this is a suggestion from a government minister who rewarded a top police official who called for her resignation with becoming the police tsar on bureaucracy. I suppose it's one way to silence your critics.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has backed plans for a curfew for all children under 16, which means that five per cent of youth is the cause for restrictions on the remaining 95 per cent. Britain is ever more being called a nanny state under the Labour government, but such penalties are going a step too far and demonstrate just how deficient of ideas is the government.

Some senior police officers believe the answer lies in imposing longer prison sentences, so youth will be deterred from committing offences. At the moment, they claim, many offenders are let off with a "slap on the wrist and a caution" which does not act as a deterrent. Yet Justice Minister Jack Straw has asked judges not to imprison offenders but put them on probation, as the jails are more full with prisoners than for which they were designed. Producing new jails does not happen overnight; even if the government could afford them, which at the moment it cannot. It is estimated that from conception to completion ready for occupation, a jail takes 10 years to build.

Juvenile youth will be a part of British society for some time to come as there are no quick solutions. The long-term answer is to inculcate a different attitude in society, whereby parents take on a greater responsibility for those children they have brought into the world.