BAKC Bands Agaisnt Knife Crime

[broccolikatie]

The BAKC campaign is run by Broccoli Music and Paul lead singer form the band Karova.

We have recently started a campaign, BAKC – Bands Against Knife Crime.
We need your support, please back our campaign, and help get the wheels are in motion.

BAKC is a collective of artists and professionals in the UK new music scene that are taking action against knife crime by raising awareness through music.

What is missing for young people today is opportunities for positive choices as well as positive role models to emulate. BAKC is designed to inspire young people, offering them alternative choices in life and plausible ways into in to the music industry.

Alongside events across the capital featuring established acts and bands from the UK new music scene BAKC is running competitions over the summer involving youth groups from the UK.

The competitions over the summer are for young people aged 25 and under. Competitions are based around all aspects of the music industry so whether young people are into music, art, photography, journalism there will be something for them to get involved in.

The prizes for each competition are starting to come in, for example we will award a winning band a day in the EMI recording studio at The Roundhouse in Camden.

Profits from the events will go into the BAKC trust which will be distributed between youth services and projects across the UK providing musical equipment and other endeavors.

We need everyone to get involved, the first step is to join the Facebook campaign

Log in | Facebook

Invite your friends to join and if you’re in a band ad your fans to the group.

Leave us messages - add pictures of you or your band.

Go over to the website where you can see the current competitions and prizes.

bakc.co.uk

Many thanks
Katie
Broccoli Music Live

[Emma]

Welcome Katie. I hope you'll be a regular contributor.

[Gina]

Hiya Katie - Gina

[Mark]

Interesting. What's your stance on actual knife sales?

[broccolikatie]

Originally Posted by Gina

Hiya Katie - Gina

Hi Gina, thanks for taking note of my post!!

[broccolikatie]

Originally Posted by Mark

Interesting. What's your stance on actual knife sales?

what do you mean? i know all thats has been done is that the legal age for buying a knife was raised from 16 to 18, not enough if you ask me, why should teens be allowed to buy them at all!

[1clickprint]

Originally Posted by broccolikatie

what do you mean? i know all thats has been done is that the legal age for buying a knife was raised from 16 to 18, not enough if you ask me, why should teens be allowed to buy them at all!

i agree in principal that teens shouldn't be able to buy combat knives etc. Although as a child i had a pen knife for many years from the age of 8. i used it to go fishing, to cut wood and rope when camping and the thought of stabbing somebody with it never ever crossed my mind.

A knife never hurts anyone. Its the idiot holding it that does the damage.

[AdamW]

Originally Posted by 1clickprint

i agree in principal that teens shouldn't be able to buy combat knives etc. Although as a child i had a pen knife for many years from the age of 8. i used it to go fishing, to cut wood and rope when camping and the thought of stabbing somebody with it never ever crossed my mind.

I had penknife from 11. If memory serves I never thought about stabbing anyone or anything with it. Was purely a practical thing to have living in country.

Originally Posted by 1clickprint

A knife never hurts anyone. Its the idiot holding it that does the damage.

That reminds me of an Eddie Izzard sketch about the NRA in America

Originally Posted by Eddie Izzard

\\"And the National Rifle Association says that, \\"Guns don't kill people, people do,” but I think the gun helps, you know? I think it helps. I just think just standing there going, \\"Bang!\\" That's not going to kill too many people, is it? You'd have to be really dodgy on the heart to have that…”

Sorry about the backslashes - system seems to be adding them

[Mark]

Originally Posted by broccolikatie

...if you ask me, why should teens be allowed to buy them at all!

Why not? That's just hurting responsible citizens.

Just increase the sentences to, say, 30 years for carrying (and actually carry it out on the first few to be convicted). The message will soon get through...

[Kay]

why should teens be allowed to buy them at all!

The simple answer is because a lot of young people are trainee chefs. They need to buy the knives in the first place and also to carry them around so they can do their college course or do their job.

I agree with most actions against knife crime but for heaven's sake don't put everyone in that category.

I'm a knife freak but none of the carrots I've hacked have complained to the police yet.

[Ray Stewart]

I was a very active fisherman and boy scout in my early years - up to 16. I always had a sheath knife on my belt and it was used for all kinds of things from whittling, firewood cutting, food preparation, fishing tackle cutting, fish gutting (yes we lived on the seaside and ate the fish I caught).

It was a matter of pride to have a well oiled and seriously sharp knife safe in it's leather sheath.

I also used hand axes and felling axes at camp. These could have taken another boys head off but we were shown how to use these tools safely and look after them properly.

The only cut I ever saw was a friend of mine using a hand axe chopping some wet wood whilst sitting down - something we all knew not to do. ANyway the axe glanced off the wood and hit his ankle. The cut opened up like an onion and tested my first-aid skills. We mentioned it to the leader and he checked we had cleaned it and wrapped it well then took the lad off to hospital for stitches. He was back at camp that evening and was seriously ribbed for being so careless. No-one thought any more of it.

Can you imagine the uproar if a bunch of scouts did something like that today?

Our attitude as adults influences the behaviour of children. Most of the problems with knives are the panic merchants passing ideas onto the kids instead of good life skills.

We also had tree climbing competitions - up to the really small, bendiest branches with no silly ropes. No-one ever got hurt doing that.

Our society is so scared of it's own shadow now that we don't let kids live and push themselves in case they get hurt. They need to learn how to assess things for themselves. I don't even see a primary school kid walking to the village school these days but if you try and drive around the school at certain times there is a huge traffic jam.

Perhaps I am too liberal in my approach to children and risk but I have tried to bring up our kids in the way I was brought up - being streetwise, energetic, keen to explore the woods and make dens, climb as many trees as possible, walk the dog through the woods on their own, generally learn for themselves what hurts and what doesn't.

Knives are only one thing adults focus on. A child can cause serious damage to an eye with a blunt pencil if they have a mind to. A few weeks ago two boys fell out in golf practice at my youngest son's school and one set about another with a 9 iron club. He broke teeth and smashed the lad's face up and is now facing juvenile court. Do we ban golf as well?

What about lazer pens? What about throwing lumps of concrete off a rail bridge and derailing a train?

Half the trouble is a total lack of things for kids to do. Our nearest cinema is 10 miles away. No youth clubs. No scout leaders locally. The kids have built themselves a bmx track in the woods. I applaud their idea - it doesn't hurt anything - but some adults want it stopped. Yet those same adults moan about kids gathering on the bridge chatting innocently because they feel threatened as they walk past them. Bet they don't say "Hi".

Sorry - rant over!

The issues are far deeper than just knives.

[Mark]

One day they'll ban everything.

Have you seen the 'anti-stab' knife?...

First 'anti-stab' knife to go on sale in Britain - Times Online

I can just see Kay recoiling in horror at that hideous thing.

And comment from another site:

Good news for the Brits, if you purchase the new “anti-stab” knife [£50] no one will ever break into you home and murder you with your own cutlery.

I’m sure some other kitchen utensil will work just as well in ending your life, but at least you will take your last breath with the comfort of knowing your six inch chefs knife had nothing to do with your murder.

Of course, this also means you will be unable to use that same knife to defend yourself. Given that a gun is not an option for most in the U.K.

(Before I get it in the neck, I'm well-aware that a large number of stabbings occur in the home - following domestics - and this is what this knife is aimed at minimising).

I have a statistic for you but I won't mention it here.

[Paul Norman]

Whilst I agree with this campaign, and much of its approach, I still am old fashioned enough to remember a time when young lads such as me always carried a knife, but never, ever would have used it on a person.

Our Swiss Army knife was a right of passage! And useful too. I still use it endlessly for practical tasks around the house, although I no longer feel I can carry it around with me. Which means I need a second one in the office. Shame, but I do understand.

When young people commit knife crimes, or gun crimes, or any crimes really, there are a range of issues.

First, what are the issues that have left them in that place. I think this campaign is going here, and it is good to do so. A big big debate under this one about if/why more peple now behave in this way.

Second, when people do commit a crime, what is the deterrent? What is the consequence? In real terms, very little. The penalty for tax evasion is more brutal that for some violent crimes. Now, dont misunderstand me, I do not want a reduction in the penalty for tax evasion!

[Kay]

@ Mark - you're quite right, it's a hideous thing. It's also only six inches long and size really does matter sometimes. I wouldn't be happy with anything less than eight inches.