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South Camden Community School pupils Mominur Rahman, 12, Sunny Miah, 12,
Hafiza Ali, 11 and Orland Svarqa, 11 |
‘There’s too much crime’ say youths
Youngsters call for youth centres to solve street strife
YOUTH clubs instead of street corners, sports instead of crime.
These are just a few of the changes young people feel could make a big difference to growing up in Camden.
Life can seem pretty bleak to a lot of youngsters, but they are brimming with ideas about how to improve it – if only people would listen.
The Book of Grievances, set up by the New Journal in January this year, has been touring the borough, giving youth a chance to be heard.
This week it was the turn of pupils at South Camden Community School (SCCS) in Chalton Street, Somers Town, to voice their concerns.
Many of the speakers, aged between 11 and 15, said they witnessed almost daily violence between gangs.
Sunny Miah, 12, said: “People think they’re ‘sick’ and they get in gangs to impress people. There’s too much crime going on.”
Mominur Rahman, 12, agreed saying there were “bad influences” everywhere, from adults and older children, that led to people joining gangs.
Some complained that people get beaten up for being from the wrong postcode or street.
But the most frequently raised problem was the lack of things to do.
“When young people hang around with nothing to do it becomes a crime scene,” said Hafiza Ali, 11.
Suggestions to remedy this included more youth clubs in certain areas, sports and activities to keep youngsters from getting bored, and even a youth police system.
Orland Svarqa, 11, believed more open spaces and cleaner streets would help. He said: “We should have more plants, more litter bins. Camden is very dirty and there’s not enough green.”
There were also calls for more CCTV cameras, the opportunity to talk to older people to encourage respect, and for newsagents to stop selling alcohol and cigarettes to young people.
Mohammed Hussain, 12, said: “We don’t have a voice and so young people are consistently being let down. Camden needs to hear what young people think about.”
When the book is finished, the New Journal will send it to council chiefs.
If you would like to add your thoughts, please visit the New Journal website at www.thecnj.com and download a form. Alternatively you can pick them up from the New Journal office at 40 Camden Road. |
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