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Real knife wounds used as warning

Graphic images of real injuries inflicted by knives feature in a new £3m government advertising campaign against youth violence.

The hard-hitting adverts - which were designed by teenagers - aim to show the true consequences of carrying a knife.

One shows a man with a knife and a screwdriver in his chest, while others are of deep, gaping wounds to the body.

The Home Office said it wanted children who carry knives to see what could happen if a weapon was turned on them.

Minister Vernon Coaker said: "We know that many young people carry a knife because they are fearful and these adverts tell powerful stories about the dangers of going down that path.

"People have got to get the message that if they carry a knife, there's more chance of it being used against them."

The campaign is being launched after a spate of stabbings of young people. Most recently, 18-year-old Rob Knox was murdered outside a pub in Sidcup, south-east London.

Social networking sites

The first phase of the three-year campaign will feature newspaper and radio adverts, as well as two "viral" internet videos.

The first features the shocking images, taken from a medical photo library, as slides in a fictional medical lecture given by a surgeon who has to deal with such injuries.

A second viral shows CCTV footage - performed by actors - of a knife stabbing on a shopping street.
It should be remembered that you are more likely to be a victim of knife crime by carrying a knife, rather than a knife protecting you
Alf Hitchcock
Association of Chief Police Officers

Both adverts will be distributed to young people through social networking websites such as Bebo and on mobile phones.

Campaigners will also hand out postcards showing a hand mutilated by a knife attack to young people on the street.

Eighteen teenagers from England and Wales took part in a summit in April and came up with the idea of using injuries to deter their peers from carrying knives.

One of those involved, Khadijah Murchison, 18, from Bristol, said: "All the young people that went to the creative summit have been affected by knife crime, so to share our experiences with each other and come up with ideas and adverts that will help reduce knife crime was great.

"Hopefully, it will make a real difference."

'Massive grief'

The campaign will run alongside a series of adverts aimed at mothers, encouraging them to talk to their children about knives.

Alf Hitchcock, from the Association of Chief Police Officers, said knife crime caused "massive grief and pain" to victims, families and communities.

"This campaign will encourage young people to realise that they should speak to one another, their parents and others around them for support," Mr Hitchcock said.

"It should be remembered that you are more likely to be a victim of knife crime by carrying a knife, rather than a knife protecting you."

The Home Office said its discussions with young people suggested they were carrying knives out of fear for their own safety.

Linked to that was a dislike of, and lack of respect for, authority figures.

The adverts can be seen at http://www.itdoesnthavetohappen.co.uk.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/7424606.stm

Published: 2008/05/28 23:29:53 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

Well, hey, it worked so well against the guns....

I can see it now. The next step is the registration of all sticks and stones.





I was in London a few days ago and although my stay was very brief I just felt uncomfortable being there. The fact that they have allowed themselves to become subjects who can't even defend their families and homes makes me pity them.

Texian wrote:"People have got to get the message that if they carry a knife, there's more chance of it being used against them."

"It should be remembered that you are more likely to be a victim of knife crime by carrying a knife, rather than a knife protecting you."
Alf Hitchcock
Association of Chief Police Officers

Vastly oversimplified, lowest-common denominator thinking at work here.

Think about this: If a knife is not present on your person, neither you can use it nor could an attacker conceivably use it---it simply is not available. If you do possess a knife, of course there is a small, non-zero chance that the other person could get a hold of it and use it against you.

An individual has a choice over whether (and how) they choose to arm themselves. However, he has no direct control over who he will encounter on the street or how the other person/people may be armed. Under certain circumstances, a confronted individual may have the opportunity to try to escape the confrontation without trying to defend himself. On the other hand, some folks, when carrying a weapon, may mentally fixate upon "standing their ground" whenever the opportunity presents itself, ignore avoidance and retreat options, and plunge into situations they cannot handle. (I do not believe this is true for the vast majority of concealed hangun licensees in Texas.)

I am going to speculate here, as I have never been to the UK but I have read a little about it: I suspect a big part of the problem in the UK is packs of young people roaming around their cities and countryside, frequently intoxicated (alcohol or drugs---but more frequently alcohol), with few inhibitions against violent or antisocial behavior.

If an individual decides to venture out in public without a posse of friends, and chooses to pack a blade for protection instead of relying upon numbers, yet encounters a hostile group of people and draws his blade to deter them or defend himself, it could easily turn into a disaster just because of the numerical superiority and initiative of his attackers. If his attackers are unarmed, they may simply swarm and overwhelm him while they sustain only superficial or a small number of injuries. Or they may be armed with blades or other contact weapons, and swarm and overwhelm their outnumbered vicitim while sustaining fewer of their own injuries. In either case, the "authorities" smugly criticize the victim's choice to try to defend himself (the victim is easily identified and found---he was badly injured or killed), but slow to punish the criminals (who are tougher to apprehend, despite the CCTV cameras, high-priced facial recognition software, etc).

ScubaSigGuy wrote:I can see it now. The next step is the registration of all sticks and stones.

And then a registration of closed fists, with microstamping on the knuckles.

Futuristic headline circa 2014:


UK Spork Crimes at All Time High! Subjects Outraged!

If only