Schools told to take action on growing menace of gangs

· Girls seen as particularly at risk
· Pupils' email traffic could be screened

Polly Curtis, education editor
Thursday May 22, 2008
The Guardian

Headteachers will today be advised to screen pupils' computer accounts and gather proof, including photographic evidence, where they suspect teenagers and even primary children of joining gangs.

Ministers have drawn up advice to schools on identifying and dealing with gang members amid growing evidence young pupils are drawn in by older siblings. They are concerned sexual abuse of girls is spreading through gang cultures.

Beverley Hughes, the children's minister, said: "There is evidence that, if gangs aren't growing in number, then they are coming down the age range.

"There is anecdotal evidence that girls are being used in a particular ways that puts them at risk and is very disturbing."

The document, seen by the Guardian, suggests:

· Headteachers set out emergency plans to deal with sudden outbreaks of weapon-related violence, and inform child protection experts if they suspect girls are being sexually abused in "initiation rituals" or revenge attacks by rival gangs;

· Teachers should learn to identify signs of gang membership such as pupils wearing certain colours, items of jewellery, or clothing. Some pupils now wear weapon-proof clothing, the document says;

· Emphasis is placed on schools working in intelligence operations with police and local partners to protect children at risk;

· Staff should be trained to look out for tags, graffiti, in the streets or in notebooks, or for pupils who suddenly acquire expensive trainers or mobile phones;

· Schools which suspect there may be gangs operating in their student body should "gather evidence" including photos of tags, and behaviour records;

· Some schools may employ tactics including "screening tools" to monitor students on social networking sites, or use powers to search pupils suspected of carrying weapons.

Hughes will launch the guidance at a Home Office event on tackling gang crime in Birmingham today. She said the advice would help schools respond to "signs or rumours in their locality" that children might be involved in dangerous gangs.

"There is a false dichotomy that schools are there to provide education only, and not for the welfare of the whole child. If they don't tackle these problems they are going to compromise educational objectives. Where there is a culture of fear and uncertainty in a school, it is something that not just the school, but youth services and police have got to grapple with.

"It's not schools taking this on alone, but they are in the unique position of being the eyes and the ears of the community; they see young people everyday." She added that areas had been identified where schools were being heavily affected, including London boroughs, and inner-city areas including Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham. "It's very localised in these areas ... for some schools this is a big issue."

Government figures last week revealed that crimes committed by girls in England and Wales are up by 25% in three years. And more than 900 weapons have been confiscated over two years from pupils as young as eight, say figures released under the freedom of information act last week. Youth offending rates have remained all but static over a decade despite a multi-million pound government overhaul of youth justice, academics at King's College London reported yesterday.

The guidance says that gangs are "predominantly male", continuing: "There are a few female gangs, but more often girls are subservient in the male gangs and even submissive." It warns of sexual exploitation which might include "initiation rituals" or "revenge attacks" against members of other gangs.

It goes on: "There is local evidence of some young children (including primary age) engaged in gang activities. In some areas the groups may be relatively formalised into age groups, for example'tinys' who can progress to 'youngers' then 'elders', usually through symbolic acts of crime."

Tackling the issues in assemblies and classes requires "careful handling to ensure that gangs are not inadvertently glamourised, or gang membership reinforced," the document says. Schools should work with parents, but some may face resistance if they find parents are themselves involved in gangs, it suggests.

Screening software might be used to monitor students on social networking sites, Hughes suggested, after police in Liverpool had used similar techniques to identify gang activity.

Margaret Morrissey, spokeswoman for the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, said: "Schools aren't the people to be tackling this. Every time the government wants to tackle a problem in society it puts pressure on schools to do it. Teachers are there to teach, not police."

Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "Something needs to be done. Schools aren't just dealing with the culture in schools, but in the culture of the wider community and culture of society. That can be not only tough but quite frightening, when you consider the levels of violence in some areas. But we have to remember that the vast majority of young people are not like that."

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the guidance would help schools and particularly the warning that if schools were not careful they could do more harm than good by glamourising gangs: "The reality is that schools are an oasis of morality in a world that does not otherwise give many young people guidance and role models of good citizenship."

acquire - zdobywać

amid – wśród, pośród

assembly – zebranie; apel

commit (a crime) – popełniać (przestępstwo)

concerned – zaniepokojony, zatroskany

dichotomy – dychotomia, rozdźwięk

emphasis - nacisk

glamourise – nadawać uroku, czaru

grapple with – zmagać się z

handling – obchodzenie się, podejście

inadvertently - nieumyślnie

intelligence - wywiad

launch – angażować się

outbreak - wybuch

overhaul – odnowa, modernizacja

predominantly - przeważnie

reveal - ujawniać

sexual abuse – wykorzystywanie seksualne

spokeswoman - rzeczniczka

submissive - uległy

subservient – pomocniczy, służalczy; uległy

tackle – stawiać czemuś czoło, zmagać się