Is it safe to walk the city streets anymore?
Ever since the pager craze that hit impressionable youth many moons ago has a new accessory become so popular among kids today. As small and light as an I-pod or MP3, easy to use and affordable, the Knife, blade, shank, Slass, cutter… has many names but the result is the same- Pain and suffering.
Or worse, death.
What happened to the good ol’ days of fisticuffs and a swift slap in the face???
It was dishonourable to be caught pulling a blade in a fight, at least where your opponent was unarmed. The rapiers of yesteryear served a purpose, and the duels they fought concluded in death, not scars or maiming. Kids today are scared. Scared of what? The next man. The rep. The world… The fear grows within and pushes their rational behaviour into a dark corner of oblivion, and before you know it the basic survival skills of a predator surface and suffice.
When the Police announced that over 17,000 knives and blades of all shapes and sizes were handed in for the recent British amnesty against knife crime, initially the public were re-assured. But for how long? Despite people’s efforts to quash this new and horrific trend, the phenomenon persists. Not a week ago, a young lady was stabbed repeatedly in the leg by two youths for her bag at 3 o’clock in the afternoon outside Crossfire HQ!
3’0clock. Youths. Stabbed repeatedly.
A stabbing here, a slashing there, a fatality today, and another tomorrow. Nobody is winning this bizarre turf war fuelled by inner city demons and a social precocity. You looked at someone strange, or stepped on their box-fresh kicks, and you’re dead mate. Easy as. No questions asked, no answers given. Just a fast flash of steel and then the blood starts pouring.
All this madness and no clear reason why?
Is it the parents? It’s always the parents. Is it the politicians? It’s always the politicians. Is it peer pressure? It’s always the peer pressure. Is it you? Hell no! Wasn’t me…
Knife crime cuts itself a vicious circle within society, generating fear among the kids. Sure, no one wants to get stabbed, but you have to carry a blade in case the next man has got one, innit? You’d never use it of course, just flash it and scare a few faces in the crowd. Yeah… Yesbutnobutyesbut… If you aren’t going to use it, don’t choose it. Ya dig?
Well, you had better get it otherwise the next thing getting dug out is your grave or your ass in that 5 foot shower at HMP. Oh yes! Little wide eyed youth like you go down a treat on a Saturday night in lockdown.
The kids don’t care anymore, and the parents are too scared to confront them. The politicians stay perched on their pedestals and flip and flex the rulebook in favour of votes, whilst the kids are alone in the streets fending for themselves. No one put that shank in your hand apart from you. You know what that means- It’s all your responsibility.
As this goes live, the government is looking at extending any knife crime related sentences, and they also want to increase the allowed age to purchase a knife from 16 to 18. At the end of the day, those are just figures, but the fact of the matter remains – Knife crime is on the up and no-one’s winning.
“I got stabbed 14 times. I can tell you it weren’t by Gangstaz.
My uncle got stabbed like twice and he died. I tell you he’s one of them Gangstaz” – Wiley, Gangstaz
Maxwell Woodger Esq
10.07.06