The essence of starting our organisation, “Gloves Not Gunz”, was to use sport to divert young people away from carrying and using weapons in their community. As with our own situation, there are many reasons why young people habitually carry knives, and sadly use them to come out on top of scenarios that quite honestly have usually been overshadowed in a plot of catastrophism, and unduly escalated out of control.
Lack of positive provisions, lack of prosperous activities, socio-economic status, negative peer association, boredom, are only a few of the reasons that are widely used by media, professionals, adults and those that have never taken the time to converse with those involved in ‘knife crime’ to give a justification of why it is on the rise.
However, although all of the above will definitely have an effect on young people and their decision making, the real answer, that I seem to find time and time again when working with these brilliant young people, is ‘LACK OF PURPOSE’. This might be a failure to be stimulated in the academic arena, or financial barriers getting in the way of involvement in positive sporting enrichment activities. Until young people have access to ‘Free Sport’ they will continue to search for a purpose.
There are so many important themes and skills within sport that are vital for a young person to develop and prosper in their day to day lives. At our organisation, our community sport sessions have fostered a family environment where anyone that walks through the famous ‘Gloves Not Gunz’ doors will be met with our three C’s - (Compassion, Commitment and Consistency). We show compassion to people regardless of their situation, gender, race, or social status. We are committed to young people in every sphere of their life, proudly offering a wrap-around network of support and most importantly we are consistent in our approach. Consistency is paramount when it comes to working with young people who might be setting off on the ‘wrong’ track in terms of carrying and using knives.
Using the sport of boxing for example we can look at the transferable themes/skills that can be translated into someone’s everyday life. Among these are discipline, decision-making, working in pressurized environments, problem solving, risk management, and going outside of your comfort zone. There are many more examples. A lot of those that are involved in knife crime do not have these skill sets, and make their decisions based on reactive aggression and poor emotional regulation. This is why it is so important to encourage young people to take part in sporting activities. The benefits are so impactful on not only the physical/mental health and wellbeing, but in some cases literally whether they will ultimately survive.
As well as purpose, creating a safe environment is integral to enable a young person to flourish in their chosen sport. It is important to offer both recreational and competitive pathways in order to serve everyone's individual appetite.
We have found that offering additional personal development workshops to our sporting sessions really help raise awareness and education to the topic of knife crime. We make these workshops as interactive as possible and encourage real and honest conversations with our youth without fear of judgment. The reality is there are thousands of professionals with expert knowledge that may have come from lived and learned experiences. However, often young people get taken out of the loop, and therefore the knowledge and experiences they have are often overlooked when it comes to creating anti knife crime programs. I feel that young people should be at the forefront of this conversation as they are the ones that are primarily affected. Quite obviously, knife crime doesn’t just impact the perpetrators and victims.
Finally, I would like to say that throughout my 20 years of being a sports coach/youth intervention specialist, I have found that using sport to engage with those that are at risk of becoming both perpetrators and victims of knife crime has saved hundreds of lives through giving our youth a purpose. I think the most important take-away is that not everyone who walks into your sports club is going to be an amazing athlete or wants to compete at any level, and that is OK. As long as you create a safe environment for young people where they can interact with each other and express themselves you will find success in what you are doing.
Adam Ballard
Youth Intervention Specialist, Gloves Not Gunz
