Displaying items by tag: youth culture

The Government has announced new measures aimed at tackling violence against women and girls by addressing harmful attitudes at an early age. As part of a long-awaited strategy, teachers will be trained to recognise early signs of misogyny in boys and intervene before these views take root. Keir Starmer warned that 'toxic ideas' are often forming young and going unchallenged, noting research suggesting more than 40 per cent of young men hold favourable views of online misogynistic influencers. A £20 million package will support the strategy, including specialist teacher training on consent, online behaviour, and the risks of sharing intimate images. All secondary school pupils in England will be taught about healthy relationships, with mandatory lessons expected by 2029 following pilot schemes from 2026. An online helpline will also be launched for teenagers concerned about their own behaviour in relationships. The Government says early intervention is essential to prevent future harm, though critics warn that funding levels may be insufficient and that schools and victim support services are already under significant strain.

The murders of two 17-year-olds in one weekend have catapulted knife crime back into news headlines. Jodie Chesney’s death stands out because she is the first girl out of ten teenagers who have been killed by knives so far this year. While most victims of murders know their assailant, reports suggest Jodie was stabbed in the back by a stranger in a London park, in a ‘random and unprovoked attack’. Last weekend’s other victim, Yousef Ghaleb Makki, was killed in an affluent Manchester suburb. He attended a private school, and was planning to train as a heart surgeon. These two deaths show that knife violence involving teenagers is not, as is sometimes suggested, a problem confined to boys on tough estates. The homicide rate and the number of teenagers killed with knives in England and Wales is at its highest for a decade.