Media obsession risks normalising knife crime

The current media frenzy about a knife-crime epidemic in London, and Gordon Brown's declaration that 110,000 problem families will be targeted as part of a new crackdown on feral teenagers, signals the arrival of this summer's high-profile crime.

Public anguish about the flavour-of-the-month crime is a short-lived enthusiasm. Not so long ago it was the epidemic of gun crime that excited the public's imagination. Before that our attention was absorbed by 'happy-slapping', 'date-rape drug' and 'car-jacking'.

In almost every case the attention devoted to the latest crime epidemic was determined by its media publicity value.

Although far too many young people carry weapons and kill and maim one another, nationwide the number of knife victims has been stable for the past decade. The good news is that, compared to most places in the world, youth homicide in Britain is still fairly

rare. The bad news is that the massive publicity devoted to raising awareness of knife crime has the perverse effect of normalising it.

Stories that communicate the idea that, for teenagers, carrying knives has become a fashion statement, can have the effect of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Unlike guns or other exotic items, knives are relatively easy to access. The often repeated assertion that many young people do not feel safe unless they carry a weapon may inadvertently give kids the wrong idea. Especially young, easily impressionable pre-teens.

It has certainly encouraged the Government to embrace the really stupid idea of targeting the 110,000 'worst' families in the land.

Knife crime, it seems, is a perfect opportunity for a Government that has far too much free time on its hands. That is why when it is not issuing new parenting orders it will be escorting young thugs to the hospital beds of knife crime victims. Though given the ridicule Gordon Brown has suffered for that idea, it might never see the light of day.