Mother and daughter suicide following gang torment

One story has dominated the press this morning; that of a mother who committed suicide by setting her car alight, with her disabled daughter also inside it.

Reportedly the family had been terrorised by a gang on their housing estate for 10 years, yet despite repeated calls to the police no action had been taken. Home Secretary Alan Johnson commented today that there were "no excuses" for this failing. Anti-social behaviour has had a lot of press coverage, in particular criticism of ASBOs, yet still it seems that police are failing to provide support for the victims.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/8279877.stm

Dizzee Rascal reflects on how being stabbed affected him

In a newspaper interview today, Cockney rapper Dizzee Rascal talks about how the experience of being stabbed in Ayia Napa has had a positive effect on his life.

"I always knew it could happen. It had happened to people around me and it was normal. But being so close to death – that changed me. Now I just appreciate life. Every day I wake ready for work.”

Dizzee has not really spoken about the incident before now, and he goes though the detail of how he felt in the aftermath, the influence it had on his work and how it reinforced his strong work ethic.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/09/29/dizzee-rascal-getting-stabbed-isn-t-glamorous-it-has-made-me-respect-life-more-and-work-harder-115875-21708343/

Social networking criticised as cyber bulling trend continues

The issue of 'cyber bulling' has been a hot topic in the press lately, as the nature of friendships on social networks are scrutinised.

There are 1.4m search results on Google for cyber bullying; the Archbishop of Westminister recently expressed concern over the craze and warned that when these friendships break down it leaves children/young adults vulnerable. He also said that an over-reliance on these virtual relationships is impeding young peoples abilities to make real, lasting friendships in the offline world.

OFCOM reported in 2008 that half of 8 to 17yr olds have a social networking profile. Facebook and bebo both have a minimum age requirement of 13, but recent reports have highlighted that they are unable to enforce this. Several charities are offering support for young people who have become victims of cyberbullying, however the social networking sites seem slow off the mark to take preventative action.

After 15yr old Holly Grogan committed suicide by throwing herself off a road bridge her parents released a statement saying that she was traumatised following the postings of dozens of abusive and threatening messages on her facebook wall. "Holly struggled to cope with the huge pressures placed upon her by the modern complexities of “friendship groups” and social networking". Only last month, another 15yr old - Megan Gillan - killed herself after being cyberbullied on bebo.

www.cybermentors.org.uk say that nearly 10,000 schoolchildren a week are seeking help to cope with cyberbullying. The charity Beatbullying is behind the scheme, which is supported by the PM. It seems that despite the ready availability of 'cyber-friends', loneliness is a major problem for young people. The charity ChildLine counsels 5,500 children for loneliness every year. And if virtual friendships affect a child's ability to make real friends, the impact of cyberbulling is further intensified.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1204062/The-fake-world-Facebook-Bebo-How-suicide-cyber-bullying-lurk-facade-harmless-fun.html#ixzz0SOaSV7WZ

In August a teenage girl became the first person to be jailed for cyberbullying. 18yr old Keeley Houghton was given 3 months in a young offenders institute and a 5 month restraining order after she threatened to kill a 14yr old on facebook.

Without a doubt the advent of social networking is one of the most significant events brought to us since the internet began; but unless we can stop this damaging and traumatic misuse of the sites, it could also be one of the most dangerous.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1214450/Mother-tells-tragic-Holly-tormented-Facebook-bullies.html#ixzz0SOXa9QfL

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/09/27/cursed-by-web-bullies-115875-21703228/

19yr old arrested following footballer stabbing

Premier League footballer Calum Davenport has been stabbed in both legs following an attack on him and his mother at his home in Bedford. 2 men have been taken into custody, one of whom is just 19.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/aug/22/calum-davenport-stabbed-west-ham

Teen stabbing

An 18yr old has been charged following the stabbing of a teenager in Suffolk.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/8277260.stm

More reports on the NSPCC survey (VAWG)

BBC coverage of the NSPCC poll, highlighting the abuse angle:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8230844.stm

Young Londoners: a positive view

More on the results of the Young Londoners Survey:

http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/28313

A more positive note in this story.

Young Londoners Survey reveals hopes for the future

A survey of young people in London has highlighted the issues facing young people in the Capital.

57% believe that the upcoming Olympics will offer opportunities to engage them, and inspire them to get involved with sport more. However the survey also revealed that teens feel bored and frustrated, with 58% saying policymakers in the capital should set up "more and better things for young people to do" as a priority.

More than a third (39%) said more police would make them feel safer. One percent of the thousand teenagers polled said they had been a victim of knife crime, and 5% said they had been mugged.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/17/boris-johnson-olympics-sport

Girls arrested over stabbing

3 teenage girls have been stabbed in Essex. Police were called to the scene in Harlow on Saturday night; it seems that the girls had been involved in a fight which got out of hand.

7 girls aged between 14 and 17 have been bailed following the incidents.

http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/news/HARLOW-Girls-injured-stabbing/article-1360796-detail/article.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8270276.stm

Anger as rape cases go unrecorded

The news today is united in outrage at claims that police are not reporting hundreds of rape cases. Rules state they should only discount claims verified as false, reported to the wrong constabulary or recorded in error from their records.

It has prompted fury from campaigners and MPs who feel police still do not take rape allegations seriously. This comes the week after glamour model Jordan was blasted in the press for her reluctance to report her alleged rape to police.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/09/22/outrage-at-100s-of-rape-claim-snubs-115875-21691446/

Woman stabbed in attempted sexual assault

A woman has been stabbed in the back in Slough, in what police believe to be a sexually-motivated attack.

The woman, in her mid-20s, was walking along a canal when a man threatened and assaulted her - police have released a description.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/8246821.stm

Bristol called on to step up facilities for young people

There are calls for more facilities in areas of Bristol where young people hang out, to prevent them becoming involved in negative activities.

Bristol's MP has voiced her concerns following several stabbings in the city; "It's a combination of policing and stepping up that security, but also looking at the underlying issues. One of the things that really concerns me about what happened outside the World's End Pub is there are reports that some of the lads there were 14 and 15 year olds. We have got to reach them at a very early age to stop them getting involved in that sort of culture".

More police patrols have also been requested:

http://www.originalbristol.com/newscentre/bristol-news/calls-for-more-police-to-patrol-areas-of-bristol-following-fatal-stabbing-3354

Liverpool teenager dies after stabbing

A 32yr old man has been charged following the death of an 18yr old boy in Liverpool. The lad stumbled into A&E dept at the Royal Liverpool hospital with blood pouring from a stab wound, but later died of his injuries.

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/09/16/liverpool-man-in-court-on-murder-charge-after-kirkdale-teenager-stabbing-100252-24702318/

need2know picks up on youth unemployment

This week's newsletter from need2know is clearly picking up on all the negative press stories this week regarding youth unemployment.

The article on the site directs young people to work opportunities:

http://www.need2know.co.uk/need2know/work/work_experience/article.html/id=1726

More on young unemployed

The BBC has picked up the story today, featuring the stories of several young people and recent graduates who are struggling in the job market:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8256861.stm

Millions of under 25s unemployed

Recent murmurs of green shoots have been somewhat undermined this week, as a range of news stories have highlighted the rising unemployment levels amongst young people.

The Mirror reported that more than one in four youngsters are now out of work in Britain's worst unemployment blackspots (taken from the results of the TUC survey). That's over 1/3 of Britain's unemployed.

A look at the blogosphere reveals a real concern that we are headed towards a lost-generation of unemployed, as seen with previous recessions. See below link for this heart-breaking account...

The impact of this is huge; entire communities where parents did not work, resulting (speculatively) in an apathy, almost a self-fulfilling prophecy that the next generation do not work.

http://25andunemployed.blogspot.com/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/09/13/millions-of-under-25s-out-of-work-as-one-in-four-youngsters-unemployed-115875-21670451/

MTV Sticky - global youth trends tool

MTV have published their youth insights source (branded MTV Sticky). Previously this was a private blog, however MTV have now launched this as a website open to all.

MTV do a huge amount of research with the youth audience, and content ranges from an interesting film produced by a teenage boy about gangs in Birmingham (look under The Grime Musical - it makes uncomfrtable viewing) all the way through to reviewing brand comms from Nike, Nintendo etc.

I think it's a great property; MTV do a yearly international youth survey and they'll be publishing the results on here, as well as weekly updates - so I'll be checking back regularly.

Take a look, at: http://www.mtvsticky.com/

Teenager stabbed in Bristol

A 17yr old has died following a stabbing at a pub in Bristol.

Reports that up to 30 young men were involved in a fight which led to the fatal stabbing accuse the gang of preventing a first aider reaching the vicitim, one of them reportedly saying "Leave the bastard to die".

A murder enquiry has been launched.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/8252026.stm
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/09/13/gang-stab-lad-then-tell-medic-let-the-b-d-die-115875-21669824/

Stop and search of children criticised

The controversial Stop and Search programme has attracted further criticism following a complaint. The parent of two children, aged 11 and 6, was stopped and had his belongings taken from him, and the children themselves were searched.

This comes after a 9yr old was stop and searched in London recently.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8248282.stm

Girls pressurised into sex

A shocking report into violence against women and girls from the NSPCC and University of Bristol has been released. Amongst the reported figures: 1/3 of teenage girls (13-17) in a relationship have been pressured into having sex, 1 in 16 had been raped and 1/4 had suffered physical violence.

Professor David Berridge from the University of Bristol, said: "The high rate and harmful impact of violence in teenagers' intimate relationships, especially for girls, is appalling. It was shocking to find that exploitation and violence in relationships starts so young

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/whatwedo/mediacentre/pressreleases/2009_01_september_teen_girls_abused_by_boyfriends_warns_NSPCC_wdn68078.html

Job promise for young people

The Prime Minister has promised that 100,000 new jobs will be created for young people. In an attempt to generate optimism on his return to Parliament, the PM has vowed to fight the recession, commenting that he wanted to avoid the climate of unemployment we saw with the last recession, where thousands were left long-term unemployed.

£1,000 will be offered to any company hiring an under-25yr old.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/09/02/optimistic-pm-promises-100-000-jobs-for-young-115875-21641557/

15yr old stabbed at Carnival

A 15yr old boy is being treated for stab wounds after he was found injured at the Notting Hill Carnival.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Stabbing-At-Notting-Hill-Carnival-Boy-Of-15-In-Serious-Condition/Article/200908415372129?lpos=UK_News_Second_UK_News_Article_Teaser_Region_9&lid=ARTICLE_15372129_Stabbing_At_Notting_Hill_Carnival%3A_Boy_Of_15_In_Serious_Condition

Police reported that the number of arrests at the carnival (Europe's largest street party) was down on previous years. Chief Inspector Jo Edwards said 222 people were arrested, compared with 280 arrests during carnival celebrations in 2008. Most were held for public order and drugs offences.