This week has seen the publication of a report in which the UK came bottom of a league table for child well-being across 21 industrialised countries.

I wasn't surprised by the report as there seems to be a current trend to vilify young people as criminals and 'hoodies'. Only a handful of British young people are responsible for the publicised crimes which feed the tabloids on a daily basis, but this has meant that everyone under the age of 18 is under suspicion and are shown little respect.

The media promote a culture which has each one out for themselves and turns minor celebrities into idols. We are fed dumbed down television shows like Big Brother where the more outrageous someone behaves the more column inches they are given.

Professor Jonathan Bradshaw, from York University, said : "In a society which is very unequal, with high levels of poverty, it leads on to what children think about themselves and their lives. That's really what's at the heart of this," he said.

Is it any wonder that young people have no value for life and are turning on each other?

Today, attention has turned to the shooting of Billy Cox, 15, from South London. This is the latest killing in a spate of publicised shootings in South London. However, this is nothing new! Living in London you often see police incident signs with another tale of a shooting that took place on some street corner. Some were in the area of South London where I lived, however you would never see ANYTHING in the press about it.


So what is the police response: "Armed officers will be patrolling the streets as part of a new taskforce set up to tackle a spate of fatal shootings in south London." Does this mean that the police have a licence to shoot any young person they suspect of carrying a gun?! I really doubt this will make any difference. There are amazing people who work within communities to try and give young people a sense of pride and prove to them that they don't have turn to gangs and violence as a way of life ... these people could do a lot more with this money and make a difference.


Gun crime in the UK has been ignored for too long…too many people have died before the government have paid any attention… and they wonder why the UK is such a bad place for children to grow up in!!


Please check out these websites:
www.mothersagainstguns.net
www.dont-trigger.com