 The Just Williams and a deadly knife game Dianne Abbott Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. THE PHOTOGRAPHS of murdered schoolboy Alex Kamondo posing with his gang, the Man Dem Crew,were sad and shocking. Shocking is how casually the boys pose with their guns the way, a generation ago, a similar group of boys would have posed with a football. The sad part is that, if you look closely, you can see that despite the hoods, the menacing stares and aggressive poses, they are little more than children. Schoolboy gangs have come a long way since the days of Richmal Crompton and JustWilliam. They are a feature of street life all over London. At best, they specialise in low-level antisocial behaviour. At worst they are involved in guns, knives and drug dealing. Many of the shootings and stabbings are the result of gang warfare. On my doorstep in Dalston we have numbers of these gangs including the Love and Money Crew, the Hoxton Boys, the London Fields Crew and the Haggerston Fields Combine. They are aged between 13 and 20. They deal in crack and skunk. And they keep the police busy with the shootings and stabbings that result from their frequent fallings-out. Whether from immigrant backgrounds like Kamondo, whose family came from Congo 15 years ago, or London born and bred, today's schoolboys form these violent gangs for the same reason that JustWilliam set up his: for adventures, companionship and something to do. The breakdown of communities, isolated families on huge estates and roots all over the globe mean that the sense of belonging that gang membership gives is precious. Some of the older gang members are evil men who belong behind bars. But police are convinced that younger boys could be diverted if they had enough to do by way of sporting and other activities Possibly the person most shocked by the photographs of Alex and his gang is his father, Kamondo Mulumba. He had no idea his son was mixed up in gang culture. Maybe he had no reason to be suspicious. But with some parents you do wonder. Do they never notice the hours their sons stay out? Do they never wonder where their boys get the bikes,mobiles and money their gang's lawbreaking brings? Or do they simply not want to know? Combating gangs, guns and knives needs better law enforcement, much better youth facilities and attention to why these boys fail in school. But it also needs parents to make it their business to know where their children are. I can imagine the howls of adolescent scorn at such unwonted adult intrusion. But secretly some of these schoolchildren might be a little pleased that their parents cared enough to ask. |
