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Have your say about crime

From November 05 to December 03

Our debate this month is on being a victim of crime.

Crimes that often happen at school are things like stealing your things, violent bullying, calling someone racist names, and sometimes carrying knives.

A charity called the Howard League has been talking to over 3,000 school students to find out how many have been the victim of a crime.

The Howard League found out that:

Nearly all the children they spoke to (95%, or about 2,850) had been the victim of a least one crime
Children and young people mostly told their family or friends about being a victim of crime; only a third (that’s about 900 of the 3,000) told a teacher or the police.

Other research has found out that young men aged 16 to 24, and children who have been excluded from school, are more likely to be victims of crime.

Tell us what you think!

Is it a crime if someone threatens you or steals your things in the playground, or is it just something you have to put up with?
Why do you think so many children don’t tell the police or their teacher when they’ve been a victim of crime?
What could the police or teachers do that would make you feel better about reporting a crime to them?
If you’re worried about being a victim of crime, what helps you to feel safe?
Do you have places to hang out and play where you feel safe from crime?

Have your say!
Check out what the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says about children in trouble with the law in article 37

On Friday, November 16, 2007 Kalika said:

In our student council we decided that tackling these sorts of crimes and ensuring that students feel safe from crime and victimisation should be a top priority. Therefore, we asked our school to employ a non-teacher whom students could talk to in private if they had any worries. We believed that this would make students feel a lot safer and more confident, consequently reducing the amount of incidents resulting in exclusions and crime.

This has worked really well in our school, not only have the number of incidents involving crime and bullying in our school significantly dropped, but as we were involved in the interview process we were able to find someone who is really easy to approach and genuinely in touch with children and young people. Having done a survey the majority of students say that they feel safer in school since we appointed someone and if they have a problem they know that they have someone to go to who will listen and genuinely help them.

Kalika

On Tuesday, November 27, 2007 Lauren said:

Young people definitely have the right to have a place where they can go free from fear of crime. Authorities need to take young people much more seriously when they report a crime, and they need to not be patronising.

We need a police force that treats young people as equal with adults, not one that disperses them if there are more than three in the same place!

Lauren