Why did the riots happen

By Mohamad Altamash
Mohamad (18) is one of our H&F Buzz young reporters

Friday September 23, 2011

Thefts, vandalism, violence and murder gripped the nation's attention last month in what were to become the biggest riots for 40 years. But what started it all? And who is to blame?

It seems the finger is being pointed so eagerly towards my own generation, which begs the questions 'how well do you really know us?' and 'what is really our true face'?

I believe I speak for the majority of young people when I say we do not endorse these acts of violence and destruction at all, and on the contrary we are disgusted, enraged and extremely upset.

The press has failed to articulate that it is only a minority of young people that took leave of their senses.

This can be backed up by a statement issued by Hammersmith & Fulham police, who say: "It is clear from the messages of support and encouragement that police offi cers have received while patrolling the borough that we (police force) can be very proud of the collective youth value-set and mind-set that exists here.

"The minority that wish to sit outside of mainstream society values will not fi nd their views entertained by the majority peer group who aspire for better things for themselves and their families."

Police reports also confirm that 'when examining the make-up of this minority of perpetrators it can be seen that of the 2,000+ arrested thus far, juveniles account for approximately 20 per cent, i.e. one out of every five, although arrests are ongoing and these figures may change."

However, despite it being a minority of young people, there is no denying that some were in fact involved, and we must examine why.

Many young people simply feel that these actions were just mindless looting.

Melonie Philips, 18, says: "I do think this attitude came a little from our materialistic society. We are constantly told that we 'need' particular possessions and I think this obsession with material goods was a huge cause."

But some young people think the causes were somewhat deeper rooted. Nat, 18, feels that the riots were 'a manifestation of working class contempt for the political system and society'.

Lishan, 17, says: "The poorer people only want to have what the bankers and the lawyers have. And it's not as easy as telling them to 'work harder' or displaying that attitude of 'if I can do it, so can you', because hundreds of kids were written off before they even had the chance to compete."

Many young people share similar views. Regardless of that, young people as a whole don't support these riots at all. Many feel that it was disgusting and heartless. People's homes and family businesses were destroyed.

But previous peaceful protests led to the conclusion of 'we might debate it in the House of Commons.' Who wants that when you have been excluded by society? And, indeed, the government finally appears to have started to listen.

Many politicians said young people were 'burning down their own communities', yet (as Lishan explains): "They fail to realise that young people don't feel part of that community and if they don't feel like a part of it, and they don't care about it, why should it matter to them if they burn it down?"

It is easy to discover a lot of hatred for law enforcers. A 17-yearold, who doesn't wish to be named, simply stated: "I hate the police. Why do I hate the police? I don't know. Maybe it's because I have been stopped twice for no reason and aggressively taken in for questioning when I refused to let them search me."

We are not aiming to point fingers in this article, and from reports from the police it is apparent they have been doing a lot of work to bridge this gap.

H&F police said: "Officers have been heavily involved in the summer holiday activities with volunteer police cadets, local schools and sports clubs in order to engage with the young people of H&F. They find positive peer role models in every corner of the borough and can count many young people who are these positive role models to others."

There is no doubt there are many organisations such as the police cadets, young advisers, Arrival Education and many more that do amazing work with young people, yet they need to be more accessible.

There is also no doubt the majority of young people are doing amazing things with their lives, yet the riots did happen and for it to have gone as far as it did, as Hajar (a H&F young adviser) says: "Something must have gone fundamentally wrong in the morality and their sense and attitude towards society."

Every young person has a story and they yearn for it to be heard. The causes for taking part in the riots are almost limitless. It cannot just be bad parenting, or lack of education, or opportunism... but may be something totally different, or a combination.

We must work together, young and old, children and parents, people and politicians, to hear these stories, to get to the bottom of these issues and to move forward in creating a better, fairer society.

The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.