A group of school pupils have ‘made a stand’ against knife crime by making a music video to tackle the issue. Knife violence has been featuring particularly high on the news agenda recently – especially in London – and it tends to involve young people.
The Year 9 students from Featherstone High School, in Southall, banded together under the name Saviour to record and release the video called Draw a Line. You can view it above.
It was created during FHS: In the Booth, a club run by the school’s social inclusion department, and Jack Morgan, the school’s Year 9 learning mentor said: “These students have made a stand by using their talents to challenge, rather than glorify, acts of violence.”
“How can this pain be glamourised?” asks Ben Watson, 14, in the song’s chorus. And, speaking in a school assembly previewing Draw a Line, Ben told other pupils: “A lot of current rap music promotes gangs, drugs, murder and sexual assault. We wanted to create a music video that would be pro-social and inventive rather than anti-social and unoriginal.”
Adrian Clarke, also 14, plays a knife attacker in the video. He said they wanted to show how young perpetrators of knife crime are themselves groomed and victimised by criminal gangs.
“My character is bribed by gang members,” said Adrian. “He then finds himself pressured into committing a stabbing that wrecks his own life as well as his victim’s.”
Headteacher Gerry Wadwa said: “Our whole community is incredibly proud of the deep desire of these Featherstone students to challenge behaviour that continues to have such tragic consequences. The professionalism with which this powerful message has been communicated is inspiring.”
Sergeant Ian Benjamin, who leads the youth engagement team of the Metropolitan Police in the West Area, saw the video when it premiered at an anti-crime day held at Featherstone High.
He said: “It is a fantastic piece of work by students that truly brought the horrors of knife crime home to their peers. They should feel extremely proud.”
