Failure of units fuels gang crime
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Pupil referral units' failure to turn excluded young people's lives around is causing the growth of gang crime, the head of an anti-gangs project said last week.
Mike Jervis, founder of the Defending da Hood project - which works to stop gang crime in London - told a meeting at the Labour Party conference: "I can guarantee you that every single young person in a gang has been excluded from school, so there is clearly a problem about how pupil referral units are dealing with these young people."
He said teachers needed training to help them prevent young people getting involved in gangs.
"Teachers do not understand the street culture that's coming through their school gates and their only answer is exclusion. Teachers need training on the problems and how to keep young people from being excluded from school."