Is the mobile phone mightier than the gun in London?

Davey Winder
Thursday, 03 July 2008 05:38

Your IT - Mobility

Of course, all of this does rather depend on those London teenagers still having the use of their mobiles. The awful irony being that recent reports tend to suggest that, statistically speaking, it is unlikely all of them will. In fact as many as 40 of them should, if the statistics apply, have had their mobile phones stolen during a violent street mugging. Often at knife point or even gun point. The Design Council survey showed that 1 in 5 London kids between the ages of 11 and 16 have been violently mugged for their mobile or iPod.

As a South London lad myself, I know all too well the reality of life on the mean streets for the youth of today. Or I would have had I not emigrated to Yorkshire 15 years ago when I had already long since lost my street teen credentials.

However, what I do know because that survey told me, is that some two thirds of London kids carry an astonishing UKP £100 (AUD $200) worth of mobile kit around with them every day. No wonder that 61 percent of them are concerned about getting robbed, or that 20 percent of them will end up the victim of a violent street crime. The violence is such, and the gang culture so ingrained, that 42 percent of kids who had been attacked in this way did not report it to the police.

So I wish the LIFEWISE project all the luck in the world, and it's great to see youngsters trying to make a difference. But, hand on heart, I think it will take more than rapping teens with free mobiles to solve this particular problem...