Violent youth crime has hit the headlines again. In London this weekend another teenager was stabbed to death after a seemingly unprovoked attack from a gang of youths.
The death of 16-year-old Ben Kinsella is the 17th death of a young person in London this year. But it's not just London that's experiencing a problem with kids and crime.
But what do all these figures mean, especially when a lot of crime goes unreported? Are we only highlighting a small minority of young people, or is this a snapshot of a bigger picture that's actually much worse than we know?
We've spoken to the experts about what the reasons could be and what the possible solutions are.
In a recent poll on goodtoknow 53% of you blamed parenting for youth crime, but what do the experts say?
Cathy Smith an adolescent psychiatrist believes it's society's responsibility as well as the parents' responsibility to bring up kids. 'Being a parent is a tough job and not a job, that as a society, we value too much. Women feel pressured to go back to work and childcare can be hard to find and expensive. We need better childcare as well as more trained professionals that understand child and teenage behaviour,' she adds.
Many young people say that the reason they carry weapons is because they are scared of being picked on or attacked. They admit to carrying a knife or gun for self defence - they don't intend to use it but things get out of hand and they end up hurting themselves or someone else.'
'Alcohol and drugs have a part to play in this too,' says Cathy. 'If you're carrying a weapon and you're drunk or high on drugs your awareness and inhibitions are impaired.'
The Rainer Crime Concern charity works to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime. Jane Edmonds from Rainer Crime Concern says: 'More young people are carrying knives because they think it keeps them safe. It's a growing problem and while we would agree that law enforcement has its place we need to get to the root of the problem too.'
As hard as it is to hear, many professionals that work with young people don't believe that tougher prison sentences are the answer.
'It's a cultural problem,' says Morris Samuels, youth worker and project manager of Nottingham's Unity Project. 'We've got a conflicting culture here. On the one hand we promise people that if they work hard and get a good job they can earn loads of money, buy a house and provide for their family but the truth is, even decent, hard-working professional people are struggling.
If you're a 16-year-old kid who's been in trouble and done some time inside then a few years later, after trying the straight and narrow, you're offered a load of cash for a crime, you're going to take that chance because you're not scared of prison anymore. You've been there, done that and making enough money to live the decent way is tough.'
Youth crime is such a big issue that there isn't one simple solution. The Government are looking at lots of different ways to tackle youth crime and disorder, from tougher prison sentences, to a new youth justice system, more education and money for community projects.
Experts agree that education needs to play a role, 'Many young people that we work with don't always appreciate the dangers of carrying knives or fully understand the law,' says Jane Edmonds from Rainer Crime Concern. 'It's simply not enough to tell young people to stop carrying knives, we need to give them strategies, tactics and confidence.'
'We criminalise young people and give up on them, but every human being feels hurt sometimes. But to be honest, I don't know what the solution is. Society has created this underground culture, which has thrived with the break-up of families, poverty and deprivation. Young people want respect, need to make money and want to belong, so a gang is the perfect answer and the only answer in the current culture.'
Adolescent psychiatrist Cathy Smith says: 'Some of the young people that commit violent crime come from a family where domestic violence is the norm, they may not understand that violence is wrong. Or they may have been treated violently themselves. And knowing right from wrong is a big part of this problem - and it's all of our problem. Years ago God, the Church and family elders told us what was acceptable behaviour. These days we don't know what the moral guidelines are, for example, some people wouldn't dare park in a disabled parking space, whereas others think it's fine if there are no drivers with disabilities around that need the space. But unless there is something written down that everyone understands and agrees with then we don't know where to start.'
Jane, Morris and Cathy all agree that communication is the first step to resolving problems and the big gap between young people and adults. 'In the Med parents eat with their children and go out with their children at night, the whole family, including the grandparents dress up and go for a walk through the town, people know each other and talk to each other, they celebrate and value children and young people - I think we could take a leaf out of their book. The first step is to start talking to your children and young people,' says Cathy.
Where to next?
- Feel fired up about this issue? Chat to other goodtoknow users
- Find more information on teenagers and knife crime
- Learn how to talk to your teen