I am put in mind of this Monty Python sketch:
Today, Gordon Brown's administration backpedaled heavily from their suggestion of a scared straight program for knife carriers, after many people very cogently pointed out that the corollary to "showing knife carriers victims of knife attacks" is "exposing victims of recent knife attacks to more offenders."
Well, yeah.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith responded to this, by, um...lying?
Ms Smith insisted she had been talking at the weekend about "knife referral schemes" - where young people caught with knives would "face up to the consequences of their actions", including "graphic" weapons awareness workshops and visits to hospitals to talk to health workers to hear about the impact of knife wounds.
"We are not, and I have never said we are, proposing to bring young people into wards to see patients," she added.
Going back and seeing her describe people going to hospitals and seeing "gruesome" injuries did not give the impression that she was discussing some special seminar with health workers.
Instead, Gordon Brown is going to tackle this imaginary epidemic at its source -- the families. Over 110,000 "problem families" will receive special attention. This will include courses to help the parents supervise their children and "the worst 20,000 families facing eviction if they do not respond."
Say what now? How does evicting families possibly help them control their kids? Does homelessness correlate with better behavior in teens? If someone came along and said, "Behave, or the government will take your family's home", would you be more or less disposed to be a good citizen?
Perhaps the current UK administration is jealous of all the attention Paris garners with those suburban riots.
One thing that I do appreciate is that in each of these "knife crime" articles, the BBC reiterates the exact same set of figures:
According to the British Crime Survey (BCS), overall violent crime has decreased by 41% since a peak in 1995.
Knives are used in about 8% of violent incidents, according to the BCS, a level that has largely remained the same during the past decade.
Hmmm.
Comments (1)
This is all so infantile it's beyond me how any adult could tolerate it. At least, I certainly couldn't. It brings out my inner conservative.
Seriously though, I think it points to a wider issue of fear of youth agency. To be honest, it felt to me at that age that I was being warehoused and cheated out of doing anything meaningful, other than foolish standardized tests and the tyranny of idiots.
The only class I really needed was math. Everything else, I could have taught myself, and should have been able to learn in a way that actually empowered me. It wasn't too long ago that 15 and 16 year olds were actually considered competent to ....do all kinds of things from run farm equipment, to fight a war, to study the Classics (!)
Posted by tim | July 25, 2008 01:14 AM
Posted on July 25, 2008 01:14