Sally Weale shines a light on the British Red Cross initiative Life Not Knife (‘It’s about confidence’: pupils learn how to cope with attacks, 15 March). While training teenagers in self-defence and first aid is to be welcomed, much more is needed, and this crisis cannot be left to charity.

In education, we need to start younger too. In some areas, there are huge pressures on children to be drawn into gangs. Many parents speak of this as a nightmare. What assistance should be given to primary school staff and parents to feel confident in opening up these conversations with 10- and 11-year-olds? Can we help children recognise the signs of grooming and build a culture of resistance to the temptations of initially “easy” money?

In 2000, the death of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor led me to research the lure of gangs for my novel Web of Lies. An 11-year-old London schoolboy later wrote to me that “the similarities between the lives of Femi [the main character] and myself left me wondering. Wondering how two people can be so similar, wondering how you know so much what young boys are going through”. His strong identification with my Femi was troubling, yet also pointed to the potential for stories to open a “safe” space for discussion and debate. Other writers for young people have also written about the challenges of violence and gangs.

In the 1980s, many local authorities offered courses for teachers on tackling racism and bullying. They weren’t a panacea but they helped. Our young killing each other is a national crisis. With gangs working “county lines”, nowhere is safe. When will government coordinate a comprehensive plan to address this waste of lives and devastation of families?

Beverley Naidoo

Bournemouth

• While the additional £100m for police “to pay for additional overtime targeted specifically on knife crime” allocated by the government (Report, 14 March) may be welcome, it should be remembered that frontline police are already exhausted and frequently have their rest days cancelled to cope with the massively increased demand on their services.

Government cutbacks have resulted in the police forces of England and Wales being fourth from the bottom of the European “police per population” league table, having lost 22,000 officers since 2010. Those same policies have closed hundreds of police stations across the country, including those in high-crime areas dominated by gangs.

Theresa May’s unholy alliance, when home secretary, with leftwing politicians and activists in opposing police stop and search duly achieved its objective of a massive reduction. However, it was accompanied by a dramatic increase in violent crime as criminal elements realised they could carry knives and other weapons with impunity.

It is indicative of government incompetence that just days after asserting there is no correlation between police numbers and burgeoning violent crime, £100m is found to increase police numbers on the streets! The unpalatable fact is that the government has neglected its most important responsibility, of protecting its citizens, and has blood on its hands.

Chris Hobbs

Retired Met police officer, London

• Youth clubs provide young people with time and space – to move and to think. Robert Booth accurately sums up the ethos and value of youth clubs (One youth club showed me the way to tackle knife crime, March 12), and by providing a safe space for young people to develop the skills needed for responsible adulthood and active citizenship many young people will be diverted from knife crime. He also highlights the importance of the professional youth worker in terms of providing support and opportunities for young people to reject negative peer pressure and boredom.

It is no coincidence that since the government systematically dismantled all youth provision, including very effective youth-led initiatives in deprived communities, knife crime, child mental health and youth suicide rates have escalated. Young people have become the main victims of austerity measures and many are seeking out support, excitement and safety within gangs.

Only the reinstatement of professionally managed and delivered youth services will begin to rebuild young people’s relationships with their communities and police, and restoring young people’s participation in all related decision-making processes will restore their trust in community leaders. County lines and those adults entrapping young people in drug -related crime are initially offering young people the very services provided through youth clubs but this involvement leads to very different and unsafe outcomes.

Norma Hornby

Warrington, Cheshire

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