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It is all about reputation
It’s all about reputationNearly a third of young people see Asbos1) as a badge of honour. Patrick Barkham asks four south Londoners what they think of the government’s ‘respect’ agenda |
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 Shola Aleje, 21 “The media have a stereotypical view that Asbos are used on young hoodrats who run around the streets, but I heard about a man ‘getto blasting’ out U2 who got an Asbo. Anyone can get them. But I can definitely see how an Asbo can give you status on the street. It’s a sense of ownership – now they have something to prove that they are big. I believe the whole Asbo-thing should be reviewed. Rather than getting an Asbo, tougher community service would be better, or even spend three days in jail on bread and water - that might work.”  Corrine Burton, 18 “I’ve never known anyone with an Asbo and I’ve never heard anyone bragging about it but I can see it happening. It’s about peer pressure and hierarchy. If you go to prison and come back out, some people are going to rate you and give you credit for that. Asbos are more for elderly people to get young people away from them and not step in their territory. They are more about that than addressing problems with young people. An Asbo isn’t going to stop someone from committing a crime. My solution for everything is communicating. Communication is the key to everything. Lack of communication causes problems. Young people want to get heard. Most antisocial behaviour is crying out for attention.” |
 Monique Wallace, 20 “If you tell someone not to do something they are just going to do it more. There are a lot of kids growing up in this area who are really bad, but other things could be done apart from giving them an Asbo. Why are these children out on the streets doing this stuff in the first place? Is there somewhere else they could be or is there something else they could do? There is a lot about Asbos on TV and in the newspapers but young people don’t really read those things, so many don’t know what an Asbo is. It’s always someone in the city. You don’t see someone from the suburbs with an Asbo.”  Jody McIntyre, 16 “It is ridiculous to say an Asbo is a badge of honour. I don’t know anyone who thinks that, but perhaps in certain areas and certain communities they do. Asbos could be a good thing but there are a lot of instances where they have been used the wrong way. Two children were threatened with Asbos because they were playing football outside their house. It seems to be like that with every law – there are always a number of instances where it’s not going to work. But it should be down to parents to discipline their offspring.” |
| noot 1 Asbo: anti social behaviour order. Een strafmaatregel die kan worden opgelegd aan mensen die overlast bezorgen. |
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