AIBU to be concerned over the incresing number of stabbings?

[Nicolaw06]

AIBU to be concerned over the increasing number of stabbings - especially the recent ones that look to be at random people?

I really think the government needs to bring the death penalty back as people just don’t seem to be worried about going to jail anymore (and with the death penalty not make it as painfree as possible. Why should they not have to suffer when their life is being ended when their victims would have been in immense pain). They painfully kill someone, go to jail, then come out a few years later to carry on with their lives. 😡😡

[sar302]

Probably more so than the other thread you started, where you were worried about the increasing number of "standings" 🤷‍♀️

[ScreamingValenta]

YANBU to be concerned about the increase in stabbings.
YABU to think bring the death penalty back would be a good response.

[caughtinanet]

What a strange question

Who wouldn't be concerned about increases in violent crime?

[Hippywannabe]

The most recent one of the poor girl in London seems very odd. she just seems to have been a sweet girl who always chose the right path.
I feel sorry for the poor people who helped in that situation too, they must have been traumatised.
The world has ceratinly changed over the last couple of decades.

[sandgrown]

The stabbings appear to be related to the rise in gang culture . More police are needed to try and smash the gangs and parents need to be aware where their young teenagers are going at night. My teenage DS does not live in an area where there are many gangs but is obsessed with gang culture and drill music and it worries me.

[madeyemoodysmum]

I read the head line and assumed they girl strapped in Romford was involved in a gang but I’ve just read more and she was totally innocent.
All stabbing are awful but for a teen to go to a park with her boyfriend and lose her life is just dreadful.

I say ZERO tolerance any weapons and we need more visible police.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Yes the girl who was stabbed is likely totally innocent but I'm going to guess that the two boys who stabbed her are trying to join a gang and that this is part of being able to join - stabbing a random stranger

[LaurieFairyCake]

We need a lot more police officers. And it's a political thing too, the Tories do not care about gangs and think it's fine as they usually stick to stabbing each other.

[ElizabethG81]

Well that escalated quickly by your second paragraph. Of course YANBU to be concerned about violent crime, but YANVU to jump to "bring back the death penalty and make it as painful as possible". It wouldn't solve the issues that are leading to the stabbings.

[MojoMoon]

Laurie, there is absolutely no evidence of that and the old trope that gang members have to kill someone to join a gang has circulated in many countries for years and has been roundly discredited. Read Snopes.com before posting any urban legends.

Obviously it's a concern that there are teenage stabbings. But your teenage daughter still remains far more likely to be killed by her boyfriend or father than a random guy in the park or street.

[BarbedBloom]

I am concerned about the rise in incidents as well. The death penalty would not be a deterrent however, otherwise there would be no crime or murder in countries that still have it, but it could result in people being executed for something they didn’t do.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Mojo - I did NOT say 'kill' someone to join a gang, that is the part that is urban legend - but stabbing someone to 'prove' yourself, that part is true.

[starzig]

Don't believe in the death penalty. Usually the perpetrators are victims of broken families and so are themselves victims of parents poor choices.

[penny14]

T

[Cornettoninja]

What kind of person wouldn’t be concerned about the rise in violent attacks?

Death penalty though? Really? It doesn’t work, crime rates in countries that do have it aren’t much different to ours. It’s not a deterrent it’s an incentive to not get caught. Also it doesn’t do anything to resolve the why’s of why people commit violent crimes. The threat of death is highly unlikely to deter someone at that point.

The recent murder of that poor young girl did strike me as perhaps being gang related. There doesn’t seem to have been any attempt at robbery according to reports and there were two disguised perpetrators. It doesn’t sound quite right to label it as a psychotic murder either.

[backinaminute]

I would say 'stabbing someone to prove yourself' is absolutely true. This is partially due to the increase in county lines. The quantities of drugs that young people are expected to carry and project means they need to demonstrate to people up the chain that they would do anything to protect it. They would also be at significant risk from their 'superiors' if they lose them, either from the police seizing them or being robbed. Often they are robbed by their own gangs so that they are even more indebted to the gang and have to do more crimes - either violent attacks or looking after drugs etc to pay them back.

I understand that there has been a huge increase in non fatal stabbings - to buttocks, things and arms from these 'initiation' stabbings.

In short I think it's absolutely terrifying for all young people. It is part of a much wider picture of serious organised crimes gangs targeting vulnerable young people - offering them a 'glamorous' lifestyle and to feel that they belong, and putting young people into a position that they have been groomed into thinking this behaviour is normal and necessary. Also that they 'owe' people who have looked after them so they want to protect the gang.

The notion that bringing back the death penalty would have any impact on this, is quite frankly ridiculous. These young people are in fact statistically, far more likely to die from being stabbed by their own knives.

[backinaminute]

Thighs - not 'things'

[Tomtontom]

Rather than bringing back the death penalty, the government need to invest in youth services, policing, regulate zero hours contracts, invest in social housing so rents are not so unattainably high. Give young people something realistic to aspire to, and something to fill their time whilst they work towards their aims.

There will always be gangs, but we need to address why this has become such an issue in recent years. Austerity has a lot to answer for.

[MojoMoon]

On what basis can you assert that it is "absolutely true" that a sizeable number of young people are stabbing some random person (or someone they know) just to be allowed to join a gang?

It's quite a big claim to make.

[DangerMouse17]

My thought is the people who stabbed her were probably doing it as retaliation...she must know someone in a gang and they targeted her. This has been going on for years and something needs to be done. As a black woman I hate the thought of it given past experience, but they need to bring back proper stop and search. And there needs to be a 10 year mandatory sentence for just carrying a knife.

[echt]

Some info on why the death penalty can't be seen as a deterrent:

www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-26/fact-check3a-does-the-death-penalty-deter3f/6116030

As for the painful death, OP, you need to get yourself over to Saudi Arabia if you want to satisfy your ghoulish and repugnant desires.

[DangerMouse17]

Oh and parents need to be held accountable too. People join gains usually due to crap homelife and being able to wander the streets at a very young age. Parents need to parent and perhaps if their child is caught with a knife they get punished too. Perhaps then they might take their responsibility seriously....

[DangerMouse17]

Join gangs*

[JRMisOdious]

If that’s true, that young people are stabbing complete strangers to pass some sort of test, that’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever heard.
Is there evidence for this? (testimony rather than, for example, media speculation).

[IAmMeThisIsI]

Obviously stabbings are a concern. It's mega old fashioned to want the death penalty back though. It's being phased out in modernised cultures for a reason. If you want criminals to be tourtured to death then go to countries where they are at it all the time.