Image: dpa
What are the reasons for 30 teenagers dying in a year in London alone? Experts point to social media and the long curfews in the pandemic.
In London, the number of teenagers killed in a year in 2021 is higher than ever since records began. The police said on Friday, a 16-year-old was stabbed to death in the West London district of Hillingdon.
The number of young victims rose to 30 this year – one more than in the previous negative record year 2008. The previous evening, a 15-year-old was killed in south London. He was stabbed to death, as were most of the other victims. They were all boys, the youngest 14 years old.
Fight against knife violence
The police chief in charge, Alex Murray, was very concerned. “Every homicide is a tragedy that leaves heartbroken families and distressed communities,” Murray said Friday. He stressed that the Metropolitan Police invest a lot of resources in the fight against knife violence. The Conservative government accuses London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan of the Labor Party of not cracking down on juvenile delinquency.
Experts blame social media in particular for the rise in violence among young people. Disagreements would be exacerbated if they were resolved online. In addition, the amount of violent content helps normalize aggression. The pandemic with long exit and contact restrictions also promoted violence: Because members of youth gangs in particular had incited themselves online, disputes escalated when the teenagers bumped into each other again after a long time.
dpa