Are the number of deaths in the last few days and months waking people to the crisis in the lives of young people in London? It’s obvious to anyone involved on a day to day basis that young people are being squeezed out and are suffering from the policies which deprive them of a place to be, a sense of belonging and support from those around them. It’s time to call a halt and to provide the recognition that they deserve.
From the Independent:
Austerity is contributing to a spate of youth murders on the streets of London, as poverty-stricken households and “decimated” youth services push young people into a cycle of violence, practitioners have warned.
Youth workers and other practitioners told The Independent that financial pressures on parents to work long hours and cuts to vital youth support programmes are leaving teenagers in a “vulnerable place”. This causes some of them to turn to a life of crime, they said.
It comes amid heightened concern over violence in the capital after a 17-year-old girl was fatally gunned down in the north London borough of Tottenham. Tanesha Melbourne-Blake, who was from the borough, was the 47th murder victim recorded by Scotland Yard this year. …
Rhammel Afflick, a 23-year-old a youth campaigner who works closely with young people in some of London’s most deprived areas, said the rise in working families in poverty was directly linked to young people becoming embroiled in violence.
“The violence is linked to young people not having the basics. It’s no good convincing somebody that carrying a knife isn’t the right way of going about things if that person hasn’t got the basics around them – like coming home to a meal or having a parent around,” he said.
“We know more people are working and living in poverty. All of this is having an effect. Youth violence links directly to austerity and poverty. It stems from people being in a vulnerable place in the first place.”
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Alliance for Childhood 