Managing the challenge of serious youth violence and gang culture-systems and

strategies for school leaders.

Ges Smith Wednesday 24th March

2021

The conversation at the start of our story……..

Boy A

The story gained pace……

• Impact of the Collier Row murder

• Out of borough school visit and muggings

• Police interviews and arrests

• Boy A stabbed on the Heathway

• Weapons in school

• BB guns in the Heathway

• Mass civil disorder on the Heathway

• Organised fraud

• Booking apartments and sexual assault

• Mopeds and Acid

The story gained pace…Uber and Uber EatsSexual exploitation and social mediaCounty lines and burner phonesDrill Music and “Calling out”Gangs signs in the classroomFree cribsThe PRU boys WI FiStreet robbery and “staining”Postcodes to profit”The Old BaileyAPingFraud

Characters and plot

• Victims vs Perpetrators• Aspiration culture and the champagne lifestyle• Simon Harding “Street Casino”• Instagram vs Reality • The technology generation gap• Profile- current but fluid• The Barking and Dagenham context• Chicken Shop culture• Girls• A hidden world- language and behaviour

Five men from Barking charged after gun raids

Stabbing in Barking leaves man fighting for his life

Headlines since March 1st 2021

https://www.barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk

The Secret Garden.

Language

Tech

Tags and names

Gangs

Locations

Spoken word

• Scenario: Mandem in their ends.

• Student 1 "G! Dat's bait fam, you stacking dat P fam, yous been trapping? Dat is a bare P bruv“

• Student 2 "Don't vex me cuz, yous getting spooked, chill bruv, feds is about!"

Spoken word

• Group of friends/Gang are in their territory/area

• Student1: That's obvious, you are stacking lots of money, have you been selling drugs? That is a lot of money

• Student 2:Don't stress me out, you are getting nervous, relax, the Police are about!

The essential A’s…

Alie – I agree.

Allow/allow it – stop/stop it.

Allow bredding – to allow copying, to allow cheating, to allow sucking up to

someone.

Allow [uh-lou]

1. verb. To cease doing something.

“Allow it”: stop it; forget it.

“Allow that”: stop doing that; fuck that.

i.e. “Allow it fam, that tune is well annoying”

The essential B’s…

Bait [beyt]

1. adj. Suspicious.

i.e. “Look man, the feds. Don't look so bait.”

Bando – Drug house, drugs will be sold and taken at this property.

Bangin‘ – good.

Bare [bair]

1. adv. Used to quantify a large amount; a lot.

i.e. “Don’t touch my jacket, it cost me bare”; “Did you see her face? She’s bare

ugly.”

Beast – really cool. As in, ‘that outfit is beast.’

Beef – a hostility between two people that usually results in violence.

Bennin – to be in a state of extreme laughter.

Blud/Blad – brother, friend.

Bore up- Stab Someone

Bovvered – verb describing a lack of interest. As in, ‘I ain’t bovvered.’

Brap! – representing oneself, bigging yourself up.

Bun [buhn]

1. verb. To smoke a cigarette or joint.

i.e. “Come let's go bun a zoot, bruv.”

Butters — ugly.

The essential C’s…

Capping- When someone surprise or about to lie.

Chief – knife.

Chung – extremely good looking or extremely good marijuana.

Chirpsing – flirting.

Creps [kreps]

1. noun. Footwear; sneakers. See also: “trainers”

i.e. “Where'd you get them new creps, bruv?”

The essential D’s…

Dapper – someone who looks fancy or smart.

Dank- Looking good

Dizzy – crazy.

Dred – dreadful, terrible, cruel,

Dry – dull, boring.

The essential E’s…

Ends [ennds]

1. The area from which you’re from or reside in. Usually prefixed with “the”,

“these”, “my” or “your.”

i.e. “Let’s go back to your ends, bruv”; “You ain’t from these ends.”

The essential F’s…

Fam – family and friends.

Fresh – nice, looks good. As in, ‘Sam is looking fresh today.’

Feds – police.

The essential G’s…

Garms – clothing.

Gas (or Raps) – extremely fast e.g dave is raps, he’s a gas man.

Gyaldem – girl grew.

The essential H’s…

Heads – people (‘bare heads’ means ‘lots of people’).

Hype – too much, excessive, over the top.

Hench – muscular.

Hectic – good, fantastic, amazing.

The essential I’s…

Init – short for ‘isn’t it’, often put at the end of sentences for extra effect or

added drama.

Is-it (sometimes pronounced iiiiissss iiiiitttt?) – means: really?

Inner – describes someone who is too nosey.

The essential J’s…

Jack – to take or steal. As in, ‘Katy jacked my food.’

Jakes – police.

Jam – relax, chill out.

Jokes – funny. As in, ‘that party was jokes’ or ‘Charlie is so jokes.’

The essential K’s…

Kotch – sit and chill.

Kush- Form of cannabis

The essential L’s…

Link – to hook up with someone. Link To meet up with friends or hang out.

“Don’t forget to link up with us later.”

Lips – to kiss passionately.

Lit – Adj – Something that is exciting or big bash. “Man, that party was lit!”

Looking criss – Adj – Looking fresh, sharp. “I saw her coming out of the

hairdressers and she was looking criss.”

Long [lohng]

1. adj. A widely applicable descriptor of negative connotation; a nuisance.

i.e. “That girl is long, man. I can’t be fucked with her.”

2. verb. To “long off” someone or something means to avoid it.

i.e. “Let’s long off that movie and go get something to eat”.

Lush – good-looking.

The essential M’s…

Manz – refers to oneself.

Marvin – hungry.

Moist [moiyst]

1. adj. Derogatory term, usually for a male, to describe a lack of masculinity;

"soft." U.S. equivalent: "pussy."

i.e. “He won’t come out ‘cos his girl won’t let him. Man’s proper moist”

The essential N’s…

Next man – someone who joins in a conversation when they are not involved.

'Nuff [nuff]

1. adv. A lot. A surplus. Corruption of "enough."

i.e. "You been round his house? Man got 'nuff trainers, you know."

The essential O’s…

On top – when a situation goes absolutely crazy.

Owned – to be made a fool of.

The essential P’s…

Pack – Drugs

Peng [pen-gh]

1. adj. Attractive. Beautiful. Only used for describing the female sex.

i.e. "MATE, you see that girl? She was peng-a-leng!"

Peak – Adj – One would think this would be an adjective to describe something

grand, it actually means the exact opposite. “There’s a rail strike again this

weekend; it’s so peak”.

Po-po – Police

Put in a spliff – killed

The essential R’s…

Reh teh teh – Etc, etc

Rinsed – overused, used up, all gone.

Roadman – That intimidating, slightly sketchy looking character who knows the

neighborhood better than anyone. Probably the person to ask for direction.

“What? Does he think he’s some kind of roadman?”

Roll with – hang out with.

Rude boy(or rudeboi) – a badman, a person who is hardened by the street

The essential S’s…

Safe – cool, good, sweet.

Shank- Someone getting stabbed

Shook – nervous, freaking out.

Shot – to sell

Sick – interesting, cool. As in, ‘Harry is sick.’

Standard – of course – goes without saying.

Switch – to turn on someone instantly with maximum shade.

The essential T’s…

Taxed – stealing.

Teething – Stealing

Tight – cheap. As in, ‘stop being so tight and lend me £5.’

Tonk – muscular person.

Treck – something far away.

Tune (sometimes pronounced tuuuuunnnnneeeee) – music you love.

Two twos – A couple, as in “Two twos are in the pen” (A couple of guys are in

prison.)Tell over (or told over) – to rat on someone, to tattle.

The essential and only V you need to know…

Vex/vexed – an extremely annoyed person.

Vex – Adj – Angry. “I heard her on the phone earlier; she was vex.”

The essential W’s…

Wavey – Adj – To be drunk or high on drugs. “He was so wavey at the party

last night.”

Wagwan [waah-gwahn]

1. Greeting. Afro Caribbean corruption of “what’s going on." U.S. equivalent:

“wassup.”

i.e. “Wagwan, fam? You good, yeah?”

YARM TEAM MARCH 2021

Wasteman [weyst-man]

1. noun. Derogatory term carrying connotations of failure and uselessness. U.S.

equivalent: “loser." See also: Wastegal

i.e. “He’s 35 and still lives with his mum. Total wasteman.”

2. adj. Having the qualities of uselessness.

i.e. “That man is fucking waste.”

Watch – be careful, don’t mess with me.

Whip– car

Wifey – girlfriend, bestie.

And the essential Y’s…

Yard – your house.

Yat- Male definition of female person

Younger – a sibling, someone younger than you. As in, ‘come here, younger.’

And Finally, the essential Z’s….

Zoot [zuht]

1. noun. Joint. Spliff.

i.e. “Yo, gimme a few draws on that zoot bruv.”

Is this a fait accompli?

Emotional flooding

ActionL.A/ Borough SupportACE awareness trainingGangs UnitContextual safeguarding boardCriminal Exploitation GroupInformation sharing agreement

PackagesVIP (lifeline)YARM- wide offerCounsellingIDVANIA (Sex violence)

School to school

Named contactEngage with forumsShared FTESchools officersGDPRKey players

In school systems

• event mapping• attendance hotlist• parent forums• deal direct• open door policy• empowered staff

Community links

• Shops – Safe places • Library• church• “chicken shop”• Visible presence

School development

This is no longer something to buy in. School staff need to be equipped to spot the warning signs and catch the students when they are ready.

Training package since 24/02

1 – Prison awareness

2 – Peer association

3 – Slang and drill

4 – Knife awareness

5 – Gangs and trauma

6 – Place 2 Be mental health training

7 – Mental health first aid

Intervention window – Are you ready when they are?

The moral of the story

• Know your students and know your staff

• Information gathering and sharing

• Disruption and intervention

• The child behind the story: victims v perpetrators

• What does it mean to be vulnerable?

• “It takes a village to raise a child”

• Trauma informed approach

• It’s in your school

• Empowerment (Staff and student)

• Empathy. This is really hard but life can be kind

• Genuine intervention rather than superficial professional activity