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An approach for the prevention of knife crime and other problems

Project 2009–2021: support towards preventing knife crime, gun crime, and other personal and social problems using just one practical interest, outside of home and school, as a vital focus

Allowing children to step safely into life

Aims

The very early prevention of crime, personal and social problems.
To bring into the life of each child everywhere a chance to create a sound personal/social opportunity through the introduction of a hobby they love and specifically choose from their heart and for their very own individual and personal life.
To acknowledge that there are trustworthy adults in every community, and that a child’s chosen hobby or interest can be a simply ‘tool’ for those adults to relate to children and young people naturally in their lives. Positive encouragement, even a momentary interest, means so much when we come across a young person we know personally in our home community.
To eradicate the current widespread ‘impotency’ in society where individuals and organisations project adults may be paedophiles.

Method

To offer motivation and life coaching in schools, for pupils, parents and teachers.

Purpose

To help towards very early prevention of personal and social problems (reaching three-year-olds onwards).
To prevent children being taken away from their own homes and put into unnatural institutions and programmes (no matter how caring the staff may be, they cannot replace the child’s natural parents who need natural support from people in their community).
To enable reliable and trustworthy adults in all communities to feel part of a soundly-supported local framework that will not let them down.

Strengths of this approach

It has been tried and tested for 27 years.
It has constantly shown up a human phenomenon where, no matter how ‘impossible’ the child’s situation has appeared to be, once they choose and follow an interest from their heart, not only do they change, their family, teachers, social workers, lawyers and courts etc. all relate to the clarity and focus of the interest as a life-saver.
The possibilities of re-channelling local and central government finances are immeasurable.

Stories

Ben was 16. He was acting out his rage at home, in school and on the street – there was nothing on offer for him. A social worker asked me to visit him at his home and chat to him with his parents present. I asked him what interest he would love to take up more than anything else. He said immediately that his dad had been a blacksmith in the army and he wanted to be a blacksmith.

I left the family and went home and looked up blacksmiths through the Yellow Pages (now readily available on the Internet). I rang each one, until one said he would definitely take Ben each Saturday for the whole day. I simply gave the name and telephone number of the blacksmith to Ben’s social worker who organised for Ben to go. His enthusiasm was boundless and cycling out on a Saturday morning from his town to the village where the blacksmith lived was nothing to him. He was fired up.

At school, teachers – instead of having to bellow at him in the corridor – stopped to ask him how he was getting on with the blacksmith’s work. Ben’s behaviours changed and he had very quickly gained a positive identity. His parents, teachers and social worker and the local magistrates court all felt supported by Ben’s interest that had become a fulcrum around which his own very personal life and world evolved. If only he and his family had received that sound, constructive support when Ben was small, not only his world but that of his whole family would have changed positively and so many problems prevented.

Tina was five and just started in school. Her family was in turmoil and Tina very vulnerable. Social workers were faced with the strong possibility that she would have to be taken into care. Her social worker and head teacher both mentioned her situation to me. I found out from the head teacher that Tina loved to bake cakes and I introduced a personal friend of mine, Betty, to the head teacher and social worker. Tina was allowed to spend one day a week with Betty producing delicious cakes that she ate and was allowed to take home and impressed a very busy mum. This sound support from within her home community definitely saved Tina from being taken away and mum felt so supported too she was able to reach out of her own depressions.

Roy was in secondary school and he just could not concentrate. When he was amongst his classmates he was more like a kangaroo leaping all over the place and also in the street when with his mates. His teacher asked me if there was anything he could do on a one-to-one. The local museums service in Woodstock, Oxfordshire welcomed Roy to work alongside their model maker, Tim, who was also a foster carer. Roy spent time with Tim over six months and then he went to his teacher and asked if he could go back into school full time, he was so ready just to mix in and get on with everyone.

Simple focus

This simple focus can be brought into the lives of all children through Creative Inspirations’ Setting-up Plan.

Margie McGregor
Director