What can be done to help young people manage and reduce
their fear?
- Adopt a joint approach with other agencies and
partners to bring the incidence of crime between young
people down.
As well as improving your understanding
of the extent of crime and fear of crime among young
people, joint actions also tend to be more effective in
reducing crime and fear among young people and other
vulnerable groups.
- Tailor your message to the audience.
If you’re
having difficulties engaging young people, you might need
to look at improving your communication skills. Young
people want to be respected, not patronised. Once you’ve
got the way you communicate right, take your message to
them – don’t wait for young people to come to you. If
there are concerns about children hanging around in ‘problem
areas’ or acting inappropriately, don’t let the
situation fester. Instead, talk to locals and the young
people themselves about how the situation can be improved.
- Take their concerns seriously and try to empower them
to find solutions
. Try to include young people in
identifying what the problems are, why they are happening
and how they can be solved. Work with schools and youth
organisations in the area to find a way of giving young
people a voice, such as setting up more youth forums, for
example. Listen to their concerns, and then act on them,
proving that participation does bring concrete results. If
bullying is an issue, take it seriously and work with
schools and young people to find a solution.
- Give them something to do
. Boredom is often the
biggest problem for young people. Give them something
constructive to get involved with instead of hanging
around precincts to prevent them becoming victimised or
frightening others. Ask them for ideas, input and even
help to regenerate a local park or waste area. Also, take
a look at what local facilities and activities are
available in the area, and whether they are meeting local
needs. If your area has poor or no facilities, consult
with young people about what they want and work across
government and agencies to provide it for them. If you
have good facilities and programmes but no-one knows about
them, do more to advertise them locally.
Additionally, youth initiatives like Summer 'splash
schemes' are cutting offending noticeably where they
have been introduced (Youth Justice Board Annual Report
2002).
- Start young
. From an early age, try to encourage
more links between young people in the area and the local
law enforcement agencies so that they know where to come
and who to speak to if they are having any concerns.
Arrange for police officers to visit local schools for
regular talks. Encourage pupils to participate in Police
youth forums, etc. You might also want to explore how to
develop or introduce a Safer Schools Partnership in your
area, if necessary. Projects to promote the contact and
understanding between younger and older people should be
used.
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