GunzDown

Gunz Down is a terrific, powerful way to show young people why guns are a no-no. Another excellent project by XLP.” Bridget Prentice - MP for Lewisham East

A Mori survey for the Youth Justice Board found that 29% of 11-16 year old school pupils admitted to carrying a knife. Research by the Bridge House Trust found few specific projects dealing with the issue, and controversy and uncertainty about how best to deal with it.

Some schools now have security measures and personnel to relieve students of potentially lethal weaponry as they enter school, but this merely treats a symptom. New weapons are easily found to replace those confiscated at school or by the police. But as New Start magazine (Oct 05) agrees, such approaches “fail to address the reasons why youngsters carry knives.”

“We aim to affect the minds of 11-14 year olds to encourage them to make courageous life choices concerning crime and violence, choices that will enable them to avoid becoming 18 year old prisoners."

How do you communicate with these kids, many of whom are victims themselves? Through their music, through drama, through film, and by people they can relate to and aspire to be like.

Things to know about GunzDown:

• Carrying Knives and Guns for teenagers is on the increase
• Fear and Fashion
• Need to get to the heart of the matter and the minds of the kids
• XLP and GreenJade: relate to these kids and provide inspirational role models

The aim of the program is to achieve real transformation of hearts and minds concerning issues of violence, crime and weapons.

Our hope is that by combining exposure of the dark reality of making bad choices, we can inform the youth and young people that there are good life choices and that it’s worth being courageous.

We intend to empower young people to choose and give them access to materials that will help them and inspire them to assess their potential actions. Get them to stop and think before they act.

Wrong choices lead to more wrong choices will eventually lead you to be defined by those choices. Choose violence and murder and you will be defined as violent murderer.

Right choices allow you a freedom to choose your path through life, to explore opportunities and relationships, to aspire to be like your heroes. Your choices are crucial to understanding who you are. Our aim is to “cultivate another choice.”

What will we do?

So how do we expect to help transform the attitudes of such kids? XLP, working with GreenJade, combine music, drama and video, to stage an hour long event in the main school hall. The show will can then be followed up by a series of lessons on respect and responsibility, which can be incorporated into the R.E and P.S.H.E syllabus.