Today the Record again reports on shocking violence by a group of teenagers on another young person. In sickening scenes, a teenage boy is circled and attacked at a snack van by youths who then use baseball bats to savagely beat him.
In recent months, we have highlighted other incidents which appear to be part of a sickening trend of attacks filmed and posted to social media platforms such as TikTok, Whatsapp and Snapchat. Some of the assaults have been frenzied like the one that left 12-year-old Abbie Jarvis lying unconscious and covered in blood after being lured to a skatepark in Glasgow.
Child victims have felt unable to return to school due to fear of beatings. It is clear violence like this has to stop before someone is killed.
But there is no simple solution and it would be too easy to point the finger of blame at all young people. They have to negotiate their way through an online world where popularity and status is constantly judged by social media clicks.
Our teenagers have also endured a Covid crisis and lockdown which left many of them isolated and left behind in terms of friendships and schooling. Calling for a police crackdown on young people would simply increase the feeling they somehow don’t belong.
It is not enough simply to condemn. Our political leaders must look at the underlying reasons for this upsurge in youth violence and act.
That means providing every community with a safe environment where teenagers can gather and simply hang around, or try new things. Such facilities have been shut down or scaled back due to lack of funds. That has to end, and resources to provide youth facilities must be ring-fenced so that councils see it as a priority.
Families and police chiefs in today’s Daily Record call for greater investment in youth services. We echo those calls and this will be a key part of the Our Kids… Our Future campaign.
We will also be demanding social media giants take action to stop the violent videos fuelling this trend. They all have warm words and policies but they are failing – and need to take down violent videos when they appear.
We will be watching and reporting any breaches we see on social media – and so should all concerned Scots. The challenge for all of us is to help make the future a better place for young people.
Young Scots are among the very best of us – kind, talented and hard-working. They are the people who will shape this nation’s future and they must not be abandoned.
The Record has no hesitation in demanding the very best support to help their young lives develop in a safe and nurturing environment. They are our kids... our future.
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