Reading Between The Lines
Remember that time when you were 12 and that kid at school said he'd slash your face if you didn't deliver a package to a nearby town?
No? Me neither.
When I was 12 my biggest fear was my mum catching me stealing money out of her purse, when I popped home from school at lunchtime. In fact, I think there was a bit of a thrill in living life a bit on the edge and having money in my pocket, despite how I'd gotten it. I think being caught a few times scared me straight because a few months later I got my first job and I've worked ever since.
Yet, I still remember the fear. Fear at a young age can be all consuming. You don't have the emotional maturity to think rationally, to talk yourself out of worries or to tell yourself to stop overthinking. In fact, more than twenty years later and I still can't do that. I know countless adults whose lives run on fear. There's a reason why depression and anxiety run hand in hand.
My fears as a 12 year old pales into insignificance when you consider the great harms that are committed against some of the youngest and most vulnerable members of society every minute of every day in the UK. Children of that age are being recruited to become runners, transporting drugs between cities and towns, living with the fear of violence against them and their families. The phenomena of County Lines is not a new one, it is the age-old practice of bringing drugs from the city, to towns in other counties. The ‘lines’ are merely the mobile phonelines that connect the dealer to the buyer. These mobiles are used to track terrified children who become groomed, exploited and then trapped in the system.
A few months ago, I spoke to a lady called Marilyn Hawes who runs a charity called Freedom from Abuse and she explained just one of the ways that young kids (predominantly boys but not exclusively) are recruited into County Lines.
And what of those who start this cycle. Those at the top of the hierarchy of misery. They see a child's life as something expendable, something of little value. They are equal opportunity destroyers. They have the means, motive and opportunity to commit crime with impunity. They believe their crimes are victimless, after all it’s only kids isn’t it? Girls as young as 11 are also in their sights. Hoodwinked into a make-believe world of money and love by older men, they become sexual currency. Yes, really.
No? Me neither.
When I was 12 my biggest fear was my mum catching me stealing money out of her purse, when I popped home from school at lunchtime. In fact, I think there was a bit of a thrill in living life a bit on the edge and having money in my pocket, despite how I'd gotten it. I think being caught a few times scared me straight because a few months later I got my first job and I've worked ever since.
Yet, I still remember the fear. Fear at a young age can be all consuming. You don't have the emotional maturity to think rationally, to talk yourself out of worries or to tell yourself to stop overthinking. In fact, more than twenty years later and I still can't do that. I know countless adults whose lives run on fear. There's a reason why depression and anxiety run hand in hand.
My fears as a 12 year old pales into insignificance when you consider the great harms that are committed against some of the youngest and most vulnerable members of society every minute of every day in the UK. Children of that age are being recruited to become runners, transporting drugs between cities and towns, living with the fear of violence against them and their families. The phenomena of County Lines is not a new one, it is the age-old practice of bringing drugs from the city, to towns in other counties. The ‘lines’ are merely the mobile phonelines that connect the dealer to the buyer. These mobiles are used to track terrified children who become groomed, exploited and then trapped in the system.
A few months ago, I spoke to a lady called Marilyn Hawes who runs a charity called Freedom from Abuse and she explained just one of the ways that young kids (predominantly boys but not exclusively) are recruited into County Lines.
Imagine this.
Boy 1 is waiting around outside a shop after school by himself. Boy 2 approaches, saying he found £20 on the ground and asks Boy 1 if it's his. Boy 1 says no; however Boy 2 insists it must be, and as he's smartly dressed in expensive clothes and trainers, he clearly doesn't need the money. After a little bit of childish banter Boy 1 reluctantly accepts the money and they part ways.
Until........a few days later and Boy 2 approaches Boy 1 and asks about the money. He now insists that the £20 wasn't an act of generosity but was a loan and it needs to be paid back. Now Boy 1 is confused and tries to calm the situation, but his new friend just isn't interested in the money anymore. He's threatening to call the police and say Boy 1 robbed him.
The only way out of this is for the boy to do a favour. He needs to get on his bike and drop a parcel off somewhere. He is given a phone and told to answer it no matter when it rings. If he doesn't then Boy 2 explains that he even knows where his little sister goes to school and she might get hurt if he doesn't do what he’s told. Full of fear, Boy 1 complies. He has no idea he is now trapped in a never-ending cycle of intimidation.
When I heard that explanation my heart sank. How could an everyday interaction between two children become so poisonous? The reality is that one day not too far in the past, that second boy was the one being preyed on. The same trick, the same threat, the same sliding doors moment.
Boy 1 is waiting around outside a shop after school by himself. Boy 2 approaches, saying he found £20 on the ground and asks Boy 1 if it's his. Boy 1 says no; however Boy 2 insists it must be, and as he's smartly dressed in expensive clothes and trainers, he clearly doesn't need the money. After a little bit of childish banter Boy 1 reluctantly accepts the money and they part ways.
Until........a few days later and Boy 2 approaches Boy 1 and asks about the money. He now insists that the £20 wasn't an act of generosity but was a loan and it needs to be paid back. Now Boy 1 is confused and tries to calm the situation, but his new friend just isn't interested in the money anymore. He's threatening to call the police and say Boy 1 robbed him.
The only way out of this is for the boy to do a favour. He needs to get on his bike and drop a parcel off somewhere. He is given a phone and told to answer it no matter when it rings. If he doesn't then Boy 2 explains that he even knows where his little sister goes to school and she might get hurt if he doesn't do what he’s told. Full of fear, Boy 1 complies. He has no idea he is now trapped in a never-ending cycle of intimidation.
When I heard that explanation my heart sank. How could an everyday interaction between two children become so poisonous? The reality is that one day not too far in the past, that second boy was the one being preyed on. The same trick, the same threat, the same sliding doors moment.
And what of those who start this cycle. Those at the top of the hierarchy of misery. They see a child's life as something expendable, something of little value. They are equal opportunity destroyers. They have the means, motive and opportunity to commit crime with impunity. They believe their crimes are victimless, after all it’s only kids isn’t it? Girls as young as 11 are also in their sights. Hoodwinked into a make-believe world of money and love by older men, they become sexual currency. Yes, really.
The means, a never-ending line of impressionable, vulnerable kids who are drawn (even through coercion) to a life where they are led to believe they are valued.
The motive quite simply is money. The most recent estimates are that each County Line is worth £800,000 per year. That figure will soon rise to a million.
What about that last one, opportunity? This is where we have a chance to intervene and break the cycle. What if that child was somewhere else? What if both were? While perpetrators of county lines are equal opportunities destroyers, they do have their favourites. Children in care without supervision, children with learning difficulties who are easily led, neglected children with lots of free time, but no money, children whose parents are out working to earn a crust, or children with mental health conditions that can be exploited.
The poorer the better, the more broken the home the better, the more vulnerable the better, the more fragile the better. Because these children are more easily taken in. If they aren't ensnared into the system by violence, their heads can be turned by the chance of easy money. A promise of food, clothes, money, phones, and above all to be a part of something.
But it is all built on a pillar of sand. The glamour soon turns to squalor. The pristine white trainers and fresh new hoody are soon tarnished when you're sleeping on the floor of a crack house in a strange town far away from your mum, dad or the people who care for you.
It is staggering how there are so many appeals for missing children recently. Ever wondered why? Of course, there are many reasons why children go missing but it never seemed to be so many, now it's every other day. Often the same children too. As I write this there have been 5 reports this week for missing children from Bedfordshire Police alone. That’s just 1 out of 45 police forces. The Children’s Society estimates that a child goes missing in the UK every 5 minutes.
Opportunity.
Give children a place to be that makes them feel safe, somewhere they can be with people their own age to grow confidence and respect for themselves and others.
Ask any coach or any fighter what makes a boxing gym unique. It’s a place where people can push themselves to do better without report cards, complicated condescending words, fear of failure, or the stress of the outside world. A few hours a week with other people, all aiming towards feeling better. Your home life is tough, you’re struggling at school, but the gym is the one place where you won’t be lost in the crowd. There is no entrance exam, you’re welcome to be part of the team and you’re an equal partner. No more playground fear picked last or not picked at all.
When you struggle here your friends lift you up, they don’t push you down. If you think you’re ready to do better, then go for it. If you fail, who cares. You’ve tried and you couldn’t even dream of that before.
The beauty of boxing is that its doors are open to everyone. There’s plenty of space for the Boy 2’s of this world.
**Update**
In March 2020 at the beginning of lockdown I created a brand new not for profit organisation called Boxing Saves Lives (www.boxingsaveslives.org).
We are helping give second chances to people involved in gang violence and creating that glimmer of light that helps people see there is an alternative.
To me, we need to start earlier and be one step ahead, finding that safe space so Boy 1 is somewhere else. The discipline and respect from boxing (and indeed all combat sports) could just be the spark that inspires a young person to give school another push. The encouraging words of a coach can light the touch paper that makes the big bad world less daunting.
A well-worn phrase by boxers is that the ‘boxing saved them from ‘going down the wrong path’.
What I find most extraordinary about that phrase is not that the sport I love is continuing to save lives. I’ve seen it, I’m still seeing it. It’s that young people know the difference between right and wrong, but often there is an inevitability about how your life can end up. For some the wrong path is the only path. Just ask Anthony Joshua.
There is a depressing repetitiveness about how we treat problems in society. We firefight and treat the symptoms not the cause. The headlines scream lock them up and throw away the key. How’s that working out? Is gang violence on the decrease, are there less children in care, less stabbings in London, children’s mental health improving? No. The opposite is true.
I was at a supermarket petrol station two days ago and there was an advertisement for people to consider fostering right there on the pump. That’s how far local authorities must go to try and find refuge for damaged children. In 2016 it cost on average £800 per WEEK to have a child in foster care. It costs £3,000 per WEEK to have a child in residential care. That’s £3,500 or £13,000 a month …to firefight.
That is still just treating the symptoms not the cause and it’s only a small part of the cost. County Lines is just one aspect of criminality. Gang violence also operates separate to this enterprise.
Consider the cost to a local authority to rehouse families targeted by gang violence
1. The cost first in finding accommodation in another town.
2. Remember these children are often from the poorest families in society and so local authorities must pay costs and rent for them when they are moved to another part of the country.
3. Schools have to be found for ALL the children in the family if they are moved elsewhere
4. Social Workers in both places are needed to protect and reintegrate the vulnerable family
5. Consider the NHS money needed for a new GP, A + E admittance, counselling and in some cases psychiatric treatment.
That’s just one family in one town. Staggering costs. The government talks of austerity, yet it continues to haemorrhage money in ways it can prevent.
There are no easy answers. Boxing does not have all the answers, but it has AN answer.
It ticks all the boxes any government wants. It improves physical and mental health; it can help tackle the childhood obesity crisis. In a PC obsessed world, it scores high. There are few places more inclusive, diverse and multicultural than a boxing gym. People from any background coming together to take each other on and then hug at the end, respectful and disciplined. Children who are body conscious and need confidence, children who self-harm who need an outlet, children bullied who feel ashamed, men and women whose anxiety and depression are breaking them down hour by hour. The world can be a very frightening and unfriendly place for many people. Boxing provides respite to these problems every single day.
I say to every boxing coach at every gym I visit. “If they are in here, they’re not out there”. That’s the beauty of this sport. It’s an open door. A door held open by coaches and volunteers who give their time for free. Who use the word community with a sense of pride, not as a slogan.
Maybe I’m old fashioned but the expression “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men” rings true with me.
It’s time for change. Maybe it’s the turn of MP’s to be fearful.
They tell us prevention is better than cure. Prove it.
JP Smith (jpsmith@boxingluton.com)
Join the debate over on www.facebook.com/boxingluton. Email me your experiences so we can paint an even bigger picture of how the sport we love can help.
If you, or someone you know is concerned about anything that has been discussed please do not hesitate to contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/
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