Mal Fletcher comments

Mal Fletcher

Some authorities have called youth violence a public health issue, because it's like a virus that spreads from child to child.

Earlier this week, I stood outside the Damilola Taylor Centre in Peckham, London and pondered again how we could have come to a situation where, in some European cities, violence by and against teenagers has reached chronic proportions.

We were filming a TV documentary on youth violence and the gang problem. It seemed fitting to stand near where, just a few years ago, young Damilola had bled to death after being attacked in a block of high-rise flats. Sadly, Damilola hasn't been the last victim of youth violence in the area, which some people are now calling 'England's Bronx.'

In the UK, one in six children say they've been hit, punched or kicked on the streets - and 7% say they've been attacked with a weapon of some kind. 60% say they've witnessed violence or bullying between young people. Meanwhile, one study has found that a majority of Britons are now afraid of their own young people.

It's not just the UK that's suffering, though. In France, in October of 2006, violent riots rocked several major cities; riots that were led by rampaging youth gangs. And in the US, young people between the ages of 12 and 17 are more likely to encounter violence than almost any other group.

So why is there all this violence among the young?

Two obvious factors are poverty and social inequality. Today's aggressive multiculturalism has many benefits, but it presents some real challenges when it comes to social inclusion. Most Europeans are proud of the levels of social integration in their societies, but many children of immigrants feel that the system is stacked against them.

This was the root of the riots in France, where in some places youth unemployment had soared to between 30 and 50 percent. Of course, unemployment breeds more unemployment. In some of our cities we're producing a core of young people who move into their 20s with a background of long-term unemployment, punctuated only by short periods of unskilled labour.

Many teenagers get little encouragement at home and finding a job offers the first great opportunity for them to feel productive. When they find there are no jobs waiting for them, they can get frustrated, angry with the system and powerless to change their situation. Often these negative feelings are stored away until they eventually break out in behaviour that's both antisocial and anti-self.

Another factor in the rise of youth violence is the abuse of alcohol and drugs.

In one London study, half of all the young people belonging to delinquent groups admitted their group had used drugs together in the last year. Drugs don't cause violence, but the two are linked because they're both part of a lifestyle that's built around high risk and destructive behaviour.

Kids get involved with drugs for all kinds of reasons. For some, it's all about the experimentation itself. Pushing the limits of safe behaviour gets the adrenaline pumping; so drug taking can begin as a kind of game. Taking drugs is also worn as a mark of independence, a way of gaining respect.

Of course, a lot of this experimenting with drugs begins with alcohol. We've seen a rapid rise in teenage binge drinking in Europe and it's left many people wondering why, in an age of unprecedented prosperity, young people are turning to the bottle in a way that puts their health, and even their lives, at risk.

For some alcohol is used as a coping mechanism, especially where there is a family history of child abuse, or emotional disturbance. But for others, consuming huge amounts of alcohol seems to have become a form of personal expression. It's almost as if they feel they can't be truly alive, or express themselves, until they've had more than a few stiff drinks.