Delivered in partnership with The Metropolitan Police, The workshop series aims to explore the relationship between music, young people, criminal activity, and violence.

 

Dubbed as 'violent' and 'dangerous', the sound of the younger generation is often blamed for the recent rise in violent crime. Many blame the culture of hatred around the music young people listen to, which glorifies violence and loathing of authority (especially the police but including parents), exalts trashy materialism and raves about drugs.

 

The sessions identify the related behaviours and trends used in contemporary music, providing participants with a well-defined understanding of the perceptions that surround modern-day artists when creating music pieces for the public.

 

Our intention is to devise positive solutions that will allow young people to make informed decisions that will enable them to find the good in every situation and engender an optimistic output on situations surrounding there lives. Using a variety of interactive musical techniques, the participants will be tasked with creating musical pieces which have a positive impact.

 

Topics covered

 

The Sound of your environment

Stereotypes

Perception 

Trending music 

Sound frequency 

Energy 

Gang culture (County Lines)

Social Media

Career Paths 

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What evidence is there for this intervention?

 

We have carried out a number of outreach surveys around the Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark, and Lewisham areas and what we found is that many of the young people whom we have spoken with had very pessimistic views their futures. Of the 200 surveyed 65% have either participated in gang violence or had known someone who has between the ages of 12- 16. Almost 80% of the respondents said that they listened to music affiliated with a gang and over 40% of these said they have friends who participate in gang violence. A lot of those still in school said that they felt that school was pointless as they were not achieving good grades and they found it boring. 

 

The Program outcome's

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To Develop positive compositions that represent harmony and improve relationships

To Improve self-esteem and trust

To Reduce anti-social behaviour/ re-offending 

To Reduce gang activity preventing joint enterprises 

To Develop a positive mindset to promote personal growth

To Develop career options and prepare participants for employment and further education

To Increase community engagement

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Current Impact 

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To date, we have supported more than 85 young people with this initiative, which has helped us to establish strong partnerships with different organisations and to build positive relationships with young people. See figures below:

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The project has equipped each participant with various social techniques that has taught them how to network and develop meaningful relationships with other young people outside of their social circle, such as creating interactions, developing new links and bartering skills. Encouraging a positive attitude, igniting a sense of pride and direction that will also boost their social interaction with community members.

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The project has created a deeper sense of self-awareness for the participants, providing them with new skills and a stronger understanding of effective communication. By completing the tasks, the participants showed their self-discipline and determination to start and complete the goal with a positive result. The feedback received by the group on the work that was produced was overwhelmingly positive, and also served as a boost to morale, since they felt respected afterwards. It also showed the participants that no matter how old they are, they can still tap into creativity and express themselves in a kind of "pleasant way" that is still very much appreciated and respected.

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