Again the media is full of images of violent, menacing gangs of hooded youths.
Of course the response has to be to stop it quickly, arrest those who have been involved in criminal acts and restore law and order.
But after the immediate reaction and attempts to contain what is happening, many of us are left asking why? Why now have young people chosen to react in this way to the death of one man and indeed is this really the cause? Just putting it down to escalation and mindless copycat behaviour feels naive.
Ease of social networking might be a factor in escalation but it's not a cause. Cuts in public services may leave young people more isolated but again it is hard to see this alone as the trigger factor.
On these pages we highlight a survey undertaken by O2 that shows 23 per cent of young people feel depressed about their futures. I am left wondering if this sense of hopelessness is why a small group of young people believe that they have no stake in society, and that society has nothing to offer them. This is not an excuse but it might be a reality, and a reality that if not acknowledged and addressed will mean this kind of angry behaviour becomes uncontainable.
Once Cobra has concluded the policing response to the riots it is incumbent on those of us planning, funding, commissioning and delivering youth facing services across public, private and community sectors to come together and consider why this has happened. And if the cause is hopelessness, to find ways of restoring hope to what seems to be becoming a lost part of a generation.
Fiona Blacke, chief executive, National Youth Agency. Fionab@nya.org.uk
