create(or)die LONDON
5 September 2009
Knife crime:
It’s time to change the
message.
By create(or)die,
I t was disappointing to learn, that recently,
the number of knife deaths in areas targeted by an
anti-knife crime scheme has risen, according to the
Home Office[1] despite clever and innovative
national anti-knife crime campaigns like the Bebo-
powered, RKCR/Y&R and Home Office
developed ‘itdoesnthavetohappen’ work [2] as well
as the Met Police and AMV:BBDO created
‘Choose a Different Ending’ YouTube work[3].
While some interesting and innovative work is
being produced it is not a slight on the Home
Office or its agencies to come to the conclusion
that their high-profile work is not yielding the
results they had hoped for.
Of course, communications alone cannot
solve the complex educational, societal and
aspirational problems that knife crime is so
steadfastly linked to, but we are sure a more
effective strategy can be employed. In this piece,
we would like to weigh in on the debate and
hopefully contribute towards the solution.
The AMV:BBDO created ‘Choose a Different Ending
YouTube work for the Metropolitan Police [3]
First, let’s take a look at the communications.
The high-profile work that we have seen in
communities and on the web like
‘itdoesnthavetohappen’ seems to target the
incidental knife carrier: the young person who has
the choice to pick up a knife, for protection or
otherwise, each day before they leave home. The
message of: ‘you should make the right choice and
leave the knife in the kitchen’ is a noble one, and is
delivered well. The work engages its target
audience and speaks to them in credible and
believable way; which is a great achievement
because historically only a handful of brands
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CREATE(OR)DIE LONDON
create(or)die is youth-led,
youth-created, socially
could credibly engage the young consumer with a
lifestyle message.
focused, creative agency
and communications
However, it’s the message ‘you should make consultancy.
the choice of leaving knives in the kitchen’ that is
becoming increasingly irrelevant. Most young Troy Kennedy
people who carry knives, don’t happen to carry Cofounder & Client
one after waking up one day realizing they need to Services Director
protect themselves or rob someone. Carrying a troy@placeforideas.com!
knife is a symptom of an environment where
joining or belonging to a group, being encouraged
to arm oneself, to protect your peers and protect
yourself is seemingly necessary; gangs. Now, we’re
not saying that the incidental knife carrier (the
person who wakes up one day and decides to
carry a knife) does not exist, but it’s the fear of
gangs that create them.
We are London based and so, we’re aware of
a number of large, criminal and notorious gangs
that no doubt the police are aware of too, these
are the type that are somewhat organized and
violent. However, while these are a problem, it’s
the other smaller popup gangs, that are born with
a romantic impression of gang life, influenced by
the older, larger gangs that are really rife and are a
major problem.
There are some young people who have
formed gangs to emulate the larger, more
notorious gangs. While the larger gangs used to
exist to harbour organized criminal activity like
hard drug-dealing, these smaller copycat gangs
don’t. These smaller, less organised gangs were
created to build a hardened and attractive identity
for the young people in that community or area;
usually started by influential young people in a
community usually around the ages of 17 to 24,
these people are called are colloquially referred to
as ‘olders’, they recruit younger people (around
the ages of 12-17) as ‘youngers’ to carry out
smaller crimes like muggings and graffiti-
vandalism to move up the pecking order and gain
infamy within their area as well as gain a little cash
on the side. These gangs carry out muggings to
people from outside their gang or area.
This behaviour has helped these different
gangs develop rivalries (‘beefs’) with each other
and has made it near impossible for gang-
members to disarm out fear of attack from a rival.
Young people can also be attacked for simply
being associated to people from a rival gang and
so refrain from travelling outside their own area by
themselves, this is known as ‘slipping’.
It is these gangs that cause other younger
people to join another gang or carry a weapon for
protection born out of fear of being attacked or
mugged for simply being in the wrong place at the
wrong time.
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 The incidental knife-carrying young person is
not the real problem; we know personally of some
young people who carry knives, who would never
dream of using them, unless they were threatened
or attacked, and we know this is the same for a
large portion of other young knife-carriers.
So, if there are young people holding knives
as part of a gang and there are young people
holding knives to protect themselves from gangs,
then why aren’t we focusing the conversation onto
speaking to young people about the risks of gangs
and being involved in them rather than talking
about simply picking up a knife?
Now, as you can imagine, it will take much
more than simply communication to dissuade
gangs to disarm, and because gangs are armed the
incidental knife-carrying young person will always
exist. Unfortunately, clever communication
strategies cannot change the reality of a young
person who picks up a weapon out of fear of
getting mugged or attacked by a gang. It also
won’t dissuade a gang-member putting down the
knife out of fear of attack from a gang-member
from a rival gang. The message being heard from
billboards and on Bebo are simply not as ‘real’ as
what they see happening outside their own front-
window, and the punishments they could face for
carrying a weapon doesn’t seem as close as the
tangible threat of attack on the streets.
We think the Government must instead of
addressing the symptom start tackling the
problem. Initiatives, schemes and communications
should be geared towards keeping young people
(potential ‘youngers’) away from gangs and
helping them to feel safe without feeling the need
to join one.
Saying that, there are a number of factors
besides protection alone that lure young people
into gangs - all of which need to be addressed for
an effective ameliorative strategy to be put in
place. These factors include:
a) The persuasive power of ‘olders’. These
people are in communities, they have a direct
means of contact with impressionable younger
people, they can make joining their gang seem
exciting and attractive. They can also use
intimidation to gain recruits.
b) Lost focus. Some young people join gangs,
simply because they haven’t yet found their
talent; people who are not engaging in any
productive activity, may drift into gangs because
it seems more exciting than taking part in other
activities that may be available.
c) Fitting in. Some young people succumb to
peer pressure and get involved with a gang
simply do follow what their friends are doing to
fit in.
d) Vulnerability. Some young people are of a
naturally vulnerable disposition, and/or lacking
real guidance in their lives can be manipulated
into thinking gang-life is the right way forward.
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Knife crime and gang proliferation is a
communal problem, even though it is committed
by a small section of a community, the burden is
shared and it’s the community has to be largely a
part of the solution. Community involvement can
help young people feel safer, this could prevent
them turning to gangs.
The notion that all knife-carriers or young
gang-members come from wholly apathetic
environments where there is no guardian, adult or
stakeholder in their life that wants to see that
person progress and be successful is largely
erroneous.
The Home Office should focus some of their
communications on helping these stakeholders
become aware of their role in solving the
problem, not simply telling people that the
problem exists.
Parents, teachers, social workers, newsagents,
barbershop owners and other local figures in a
community are the people who interact with the
community’s young people on a daily basis and
should be seen as stakeholders in their
community’s young people. It is these people the
Home Office should engage in a dialogue and
make it clear that they play an important part in
the solution.
Celebrities and tabloid anti-knife crime
evangelists, while play a role in raising awareness,
are not the people that know the potential knife-
carrying young person by name, that know their
mother and have seen them grow up, it’s the locals
that have done these things. The Government’s
message has to be communicated to at-risk young
people through the community; because the anti-
knife and anti-gang message can go so much
deeper when communicated by credible proxies-
the people who already have relationships with the
local youth.
These people are valuable assets, and they
have to be energized and mobilized into
contributing towards the solution. This, however,
can only be achieved with real, tangible and
sustainable relationships which have to be
brokered between stakeholders and governmental
agents on the ground level. The police and other
government agents must try harder to integrate
themselves amongst community life with police
officers and other community servants seen as
other members of the community and not aliens
or meddlesome officials.
It has to be made to easier for stakeholders to
take the initiative and form action groups like the
people of Burngreave in Sheffield[4], while it has
to be made harder for people within communities
to remain apathetic.
Young people have to have an outlet to voice
their concerns or report incidents easily, if they
feel they are being pressured into joining a gang
or engaging in something they are not
comfortable in doing, there must be responsible
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people at home or at school that young people can
trust and than can deal with these concerns in a
pragmatic way.
There must be more ways in which young
people can occupy their time at and away from
school, that can entertain their aspirational nature
[5] with activities that can deliver real-time
awards for achievement and excellence. When
young people feel they are succeeding at
something worthwhile, they wouldn’t want to
jeopardize their achievements or hard-work with
gang-membership or knife-carrying.
Attainment and behaviour are undoubtedly
linked. Sporting, vocational and academic
excellence can contribute to assuaging the
problem. The New York City Department for
Education has recently collaborated with agency
Droga5 and the Education Innovation Laboratory
at Harvard University to develop the ‘Million’
campaign; an initiative the combines education
with technology to provide real-time rewards for
good behaviour and attainment amongst
schoolchildren[6]. It will be interesting to see if
this real-time reward scheme will alleviate
incidents of youth crime in the city, however it is
another debate if such scheme could be adapted
to work in the United Kingdom.

In summary, we believe the message being

communicated to young people and the strategy
being implemented must change to tackle the
problem of gangs rather than the symptom of
carrying a knife. We believe that young people
simply want to feel safe and protected from other
young people that belong to gangs to disarm. We
are aware of the different factors that entice
young people into gangs; but we are also confident
that this can be neutralized with community
enfranchisement and involvement.

References:
1. Deaths up during anti-knife drive, BBC
News, 22 July 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/
1/hi/uk/8161880.stm
2. It Doesn’t Have to Happen, Bebo,
http://www.bebo.com/itdoesnthavetohappen
3. Choose A. Different Ending, YouTube,
h t t p : / / w w w. y o u t u b e . c o m / u s e r /
adifferentending
4. Parents’ New Community Initiative,
BBC News, 25 August 2009, http://
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8220700.stm
5. Young People and the Paradox of
Aspiration, create(or)die, 24 May 2009,
http://createordie.posterous.com/young-
people-and-the-aspiration-paradox
6. Is the Million a really great idea?,
Creative Review, August 2009, http://
www.creativereview.co.uk/back-issues/
creative-review/2009/august-2009/million-
a-great-idea

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