I totally agree with Gaby Hinsliff (Loved ones mourn Kelyan Bokassa, the 14-year-old boy killed on a London bus. And we all have some thinking to do, 10 January). In my professional life, for 40 years or so I mainly taught secondary pupils, mostly in and around London. Looking back on my varied career, my favourite job was teaching boys. I observed that they bumble along the road to maturity and sexuality. In an all-boys’ environment, they find their own way to adulthood.
There are so many pressures on young people, and “being a man” is one that is foisted on boys earlier and earlier. Being their “own man” and being part of a gang with power and influence – as well as having access to material possessions – must be a seductive lure to them.
I was most successful with the boys I taught when I treated them as youngsters: seeing them as vulnerable young people in a difficult-to-navigate world, and trying to instil in them values, behaviours and actions that would stand them in good stead as they grew up.
I hope that Yvette Cooper’s “young futures” unit initiative will thrive, and that the values it promulgates will spread far and wide into families, communities, schools, all professionals who meet the needs of young people – and into society at large.
Alison Verney
South Molton, Devon
• Gaby Hinsliff is right to draw attention to the plight of young people – mainly boys – who are recruited into drug distribution gangs. But a greater need is to draw attention to the middle-class drug users who depend on these gangs for their recreational drug habits. As they sit in the comfort of their cars or houses in the suburbs, waiting for the next drop, they should think deeply of how many young lives are being lost for their next hit. Responsibility starts with the users.
Angela Raven-Roberts
Kidlington, Oxfordshire
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