http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

Images of sharp objects that have been forced into somebody’s head always get people wincing sympathetically, certain that the person involved must be dead, because brain injuries are almost always fatal. The operative word here is almost, and what follows are incredible examples of people should, indeed, should be dead, but lived through their ordeals, somehow  surviving, against all the odds, and making full recoveries.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

Especially distressing when the victim is child, as young as 17 month-old Jessiah Jackson, some head injuries seem truly horrendous. Jessiah  fell into a pressure washer, when his chair tipped over, a large  metal hook within the machine  penetrating the skull, and lodged some way into the brain, close to  a large blood vessel. Despite the inherent danger of the surgical  procedure needing to be performed,  North Carolina Children’s Hospital surgeons removed the hook safely, and Jessiah is now fully recovered, a happy and healthy child.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

Another  17-month-old  toddler staged  a miraculous recovery after  falling face first into car keys, one piercing  his eyelid and penetrating his brain. Nicholas Holderman, of Kentucky, USA, appeared to have had  his eye had ruptured, at first, but later checks revealed noeye damage at all, and the resilience healthy child had, in just over two months, made a complete recovery, showing no visible signs of having been so horrifically injured.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

The young Emerson de Oliveira Abreu was out fishing in Rio de Janiero, using a compressed air powered fishing spear, he  aimed at a target fish, but his bad luck saw  the spear ricocheted back from a boulder and  spear him through head and brain, all 6in going into his skull, which required  needed five hours of very high-risk surgery  to remove  successfully, Emerson amazingly recovering completely and going back to his fishing as if nothing had happened. 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

One of the luckiest boys alive today, Liu Cheong came very close to death  when shot by a school friend whilst the pair were fooling about with bows and arrows, in Changchun, eastern China and 11-year-old Liu was horrified to feel an arrow pierce his eye socket, and travelling through his head, only stopped by the bony back of his skull, Liu only surviving because, by some miraculous freak of chance the arrow missed his brain completely, and he recovered completely.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

The image above, as shocking as it is, shows a 15-year-old boy’s skull, shortly  after a five inch knife stabbed him, as with two friends attempting to stop a mugging, he was set upon, the  knife stabbing one boy in the forehead, another boy  in the back and yet another in the shoulder. The  boy above only  survived because the knife was left sticking from his head, allowing doctors to operate in time. Had anyone tried to remove it before that, he would have died, yet ten months later he enrolled in college.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/PainManagement/slideshow/photos-xray-oddities-medical-scans-2033647

As awful as these images would suggest the injuries might have been, the fact that these people recovered just goes to show how incerdibly resilient the human body can be in matters of survival.  There is bo doubt whatever that every one of these victimes turned out to be incredibly lucky in avoiding life threatening damage, but nature proves,through these amazing stories of survival, that she will always find a way to maintain life.

Guns

Going for the most obvious weapons, that being guns. Guns can be potentially be dangerous in the wrong hands. Whether it’s those who are willing to cause harm or for those who just are messing around, foolishly with such a weapon, guns are a series matter. When faced down with a gun, your life could be ended in a mere second, with one pull of a trigger. The bullet impacting in the right place could lead to a quick death or an agonizing death where you bleed to death.

Stabbing Devices

Something sharp getting stabbed into your body will cause a great deal of damage. Namely if it taps an artery and you bleed to death. While not as dangerous as a gun, that’s not really saying all that much, and you actually have a chance for a rather painful death. Stabbing devices can be anything, knives, swords, scissors, broken beer bottles, jagged pieces of wood, really anything with sharp edges that can break human skin and caused bleeding, you can stab people with.

Nunchaku

Or nunchucks as they are alternatively referred to by the common person, these for those who are uninformed are two little pieces of wood hooked to a chain. They can be swung around in a high velocity and obviously when they smash into someone, they can hurt. As it break certain bones and if someone is not trained in proper use of Nunchaku, they can end up breaking their own wrist or worse. Obviously not as deadly but it could be, depending on what bone a person hits. Especially when said piece of wood goes up and cracks someone’s skull but this weapon is fairly commonly used in some gangs.

An Automobile

No need to get fancy, as running someone over with your car will do just fine. An awful thing to think but really running over someone with a vehicle can be disturbingly effective. When you pit flesh and bones against a moving chunk of metal about ten times the size of the average person, the result is something that is rather going to be quite obvious. Be safe when you drive always as your vehicle could be deadly to innocent pedestrians. Even unintentionally, cars running over someone is dangerous.

The Human Body

Finally since the dawn of time, the human body is something that can be a dangerous and quite destructive weapon. A disciplined individual can make their hands and feet quite dangerous. The phrase “beating someone to death with your bare hands” is not something that is an exaggeration, in fact it is extremely possible. There are certain people when trained can be a force to reckon with and even in some circumstances can disarm armed individuals.

Weapons are not toys in the end and in reality, without the proper training, they can be even more dangerous than normal, especially to yourself.

How many of you remember the Manson murders? The movie star Sharon Tate and four others were horribly slain in cold blood. The very next night another round of killings claimed more lives. The crimes were so atrocious that it was on the news and the topic of conversations for months and is still of interest today. Charles Manson and his followers received death sentences that were later reduced to life sentences when California set aside the death penalty in 1972. Vincent Bugliosi, the chief prosecutor coauthored a book about the murders and the Manson gang with Curt Gentry titled “Helter Skelter.” Those words taken from a Beatles song were written in blood at the murder scene. It became the best selling true crime book of all times.

Cover of Helter Skelter

The murders appeared to be random with no know motive. The fear was palpable in Bel Air and Beverly Hills where the murders happened. In a place where many people did not lock their doors it was unthinkable that young women dressed in black could come into people’s homes armed with knives and stab them to death. When it became known that these youngsters were from average American homes with good background it was even more terrifying. These could have been anyone’s children.

Manson’s chief lieutenant at the murder scene, was from Farmersville, Texas. He was a basketball, football and track star. He had an A average in high school. Patricia Krenwinkel another of the main killers sang in the church choir, got good grades in school and planned to attend a Jesuit college in Alabama. Leslie Van Houten, another killer was homecoming princess at Monrovia High School in L.A.

Charles Manson had a long criminal history,  in 1967 just out of Terminal Island federal Penitentiary, he goes to San Francisco with his guitar to sing street rap. Manson was a good composer of music. Guns n Roses and the Beach Boys have recorded his songs. He was a guru of sorts. 5 foot 2 with a beard and piercing brown eyes he was able to mesmerize these kids with his lifestyle of sex orgies and LSD trips. He convinces them that he is Jesus Christ reincarnated and the devil himself. He tells the kids the murders are to start a war between the whites and blacks called “Helter Skelter.”

Image by Monsieur Gordon via Flickr

It was the longest and the most expensive trial in U.S. history. Manson followers kept watch outside the court house 24 hours a day. Manson came in one day with an X carved on his forehead and the next day they all had an X carved on their foreheads. One day Manson grabbed a sharpened pencil and leaped over the table at the judge shouting, “In the name of Christian justice someone should chop off your head.”

Ronald Hughes, attorney for Van Houten vanished near the end of the trail. His body was later found in the forest and because of decomposition it wasn’t possible to determine the cause of his death. It seemed certain that he was murdered by some of the Manson family. Manson is a highly intelligent man and rather than commit the murders himself, he pulled the strings and sent out other people to kill strangers. Many German and British bands are still playing Manson’s songs. Manson tee shirts are still popular. Some people read everything printed about him and approve of “Helter Skelter.”The majority of his supporters are under 25.

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A seventeen year boy was gang raped by 10 women in Papua New Guinea, Confused? But that is true, A police officer from Southern Highland Province, has just confirmed that a knife wielding gang of women attacked the schoolboy just outside the provincial centre of Mendi. The four women out of the ten who attacked the boy with kitchen knives, in fact had sexual intercourse with him, and the boy may have been infected with HIV/AIDS. This area according to a UNICEF report is known for worlds highest rates of sexual violence.

The police are more concerned as they think that these ten women might be infected with HIV/AIDS, besides they are more confused this time because they always keep-on warning the women folks to be careful at night, but these are the men whom they want to warn this time around. The police are seriously looking for the gang to identify the gang of these animals.     

            Imagine walking down the street minding your own business when you hear a crack and then feel a sharp pain in your back.  After a minute, you realize what has happened to you.  You have blood running out of your back, sharp pain coming from where the blood is, and also a visual of a person running away from you stuffing a gun back into their coat.  It all leads to one bad conclusion that you have been shot.  Surprisingly, Many Americans are worried that this situation may happen to them.  As of 2009, the most common murder weapon was a firearm (guns).  There were 10,086 murders caused with all kinds of firearms. The most common firearm used though was a handgun with 7,361 murders.  The second most common murder weapons were knives and cutting instruments.  There were 1,796 murders caused with knives and other cutting instruments. 

            The reason I told you those two statistics is because those are the most commonly owned out of the top ten murder weapons.  The Americans that are worried that they may be murdered may be a reality.  The have been many news stories that have been written about an innocent civilian walking down the street and being killed right on the street.  Next time you are out walking down a quiet and lonely street, always keep on your guard and be watching for anything suspicious.

From man’s earliest days the blade has been the basic form of weapon whether for hunting, defence or warfare. For close combat and ceremonial occasions it is still in use today: the dress sword of the mounted officer or the bayonet of the infantry. If you are lucky enough to be Knighted you may even get a tap on the shoulders by the British Queen with a ceremonial sword.

I would like to make it clear at this point, that this article takes no stance on the use of weaponry.

My own beliefs and convictions are not included here. This is a look at some of the non standard, more interesting and curious forms that blades have taken, with historical, geographic and cultural differences. I use the term blade because some of the forms shown cannot be described as knives or swords.

1. The Kukri

   

   Some readers may be surprised to find that the image shown is actually modern British army issue. It is issued to one of the most feared units in the British army: the Gurkhas.

   It is their weapon of choice in close combat, rather than the bayonet.

   The story of the Gurkhas is a long and historically complicated one.

   Succinctly: Gurkhas hail from Nepal which was part of India. In its Empire building days, Britain made India one of its colonies. The Gurkhas were seen as brave and heroic fighters who were recruited into the colonial Indian army as a “Martial Race”, a term which meant that they were not classed as mercenaries.

   With the independence of India in 1947 four regiments became part of the British army. Prior to this they have fought in both World Wars and latterly were part of the forces that in the 1980’s defeated the Argentine army in the Falklands and also served in the Middle East.

   The Kukri shown above is the standard army issue with karda and chakmak.

   Traditionally the blade is 12-15 inches (30-38cm) long. The karda is a small accessory blade used for many tasks. The chakmak is unsharpened and is used to burnish the blade. It can also be used to start a fire with flint.

2. The Shamshir

   

   The Shamshir is a sabre that is part of the scimitar group of swords.

   Originating in Persia in the 16th century, it was the weapon of the Persian cavalry.

   Somewhat unwieldy and inaccurate in a thrusting stabbing motion, its strength was in its slashing ability. The curved blade which made it unwieldy for thrusting made it dynamic for a downward slashing movement, normally against un-armoured foot opponents. One writer said that “bright shamshirs which fell on the head cleft men to the waist.”

3. The Khanda

   

   The Khanda is a straight, heavy double edged Indian sword

   This example clearly shows that the weapon is broader towards the tip than half way down the blade, complete with spike at the base of the handle. Because of its size and weight, this again was a weapon that was more useful for slashing and hacking rather than a stabbing movement.

   It is mainly associated with the Sikhs, Marathas and other clans of the Kshatriya warrior class of India. It is also used in Sikh martial arts.

4. The Quoit

   

   The quoit, surely this is a ring of rope used by passengers on luxury liners in days gone by in deck games, or perhaps the ring used in Hoopla on the funfair?

   These pastimes of idling away time do not have much to do with reality.

   The reality was that the quoit was a solid razor sharp ring of thin steel used by the Sikhs of India. (The example above is actually inlaid with gold

   
   Image sourceSikhs with chakrams, 1844

   The quoit also known as a Chakram measured anything between 5-12 inches (13-30cm)

   This weapon was thrown at the enemy. It was released either vertically in an underarm throw to fall under it own weight on the heads of opponents, or would be twirled around the index finger raised above the head and released.

   It is said that in the right hands it could kill a man at 80 paces.

5. The Kora

   

   A somewhat rare and fierce weapon, the Kora served as part axe and part sword.

   This Indo/Nepal weapon was used for fighting and for sacrifice.

6. The Tang

   

   A tang on a knife or sword is that part that will be enclosed by the handle.

   This is probably how the weapon got its name. At first glance it appears as if the pointed part is like the tang waiting to have the handle fitted with the parts to right and left being hand guards.

   The tang shown is actually 58cm long and 65 cm wide (23 and 26 inches)

   This is actually a “pole arm”. A shaft fits into the opening in the bottom left.

   It derives from China in the 19th century and consists of a 13cm (5 inch) spear type point with two 33cm (13 inch) blades either side.

   This type of weapon was used by police forces or others who needed to keep crowds in order.

7. The Ayda Katti

   

   The Ayda Katti is the national sword of the Coorg of Malabar, the South West coastal area of India.

   It is one of the rarest swords in the Indian arsenal and of a very peculiar shape. It is single edged and is reminiscent of a scythe or other farming agricultural tool. However it is a real weapon and a deadly one in experienced hands.

   The blade of this one is 38cm (15 inches) long and 10cm (4 inches) wide at its widest point with a massive steel bolster.

8. The Katar

   

   The Katar, shown in the introduction, is a short punching sword from India. The hand fitted into the grip so that the blade was above the knuckles. It was a weapon used by the Rajput, referred to as “the most valiant warriors of the Indian sub continent.”

   Used in close combat the blades were said to be able to punch through armour.

   The fascinating example above incorporates two small pistols alongside the hand grip. this was used by the Maharatti cavalry. An earlier example of this pistol weapon did not have triggers but was fired by squeezing together the two “swallow tails” at the back, which was attached to the firing mechanism.

9. The Badek

   

   The Badek (or Badik) is a knife from Java, Indonesia. It is characterized by its single edge blade with straight back and up-curving edge, and the pistol grip shape handle.

   It measures from 20 to 40 cm in length (8-16 inches)

   It sometimes features in Silat Melayu – martial arts from the countries around the Malay Archipelago.

10. The Kris

    

    The Kris or Keris is a dagger that originates from Indonesia and Malaysia.

    The Glenbow museum describes them “Kris knives with decorative scabbards are used throughout Indonesia as weapons and ritual objects, and are part of men’s ceremonial attire. The wavy iron blade of the knife represents a snake in movement and is thought to have power to protect its owner.”

    In the past disputes were settled with this double edged dagger. The more people it killed the more valuable it became.

    There was a superstition that it should not be drawn in the presence of the person who gave it to the owner.

    The kris was also supposed to have a spirit that could be good or bad. The same weapon may be bad for one person but good for another.

Also by C. Jordan:

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Shocking Facts

There are many devastating facts being released by the Government and various police forces under the “Freedom of Information” act across the vast extent of the nation. These include:

·        A knife-related offence is committed every 24 minutes

·        In the past three months there have been over 2,000 stabbings, including 55 murders

·        Shockingly, 62% of U.K. school pupils admit that they have previously carried a knife.

·        20% of 16-year-olds have admitted to pulling a knife out on someone and intending to seriously injure them.

·       

What is Being done About It?

A wide variety of things are being done to try and neutralise knife crime and eliminate its fatal influences in the British streets. Football star Rio Ferdinand has launched a campaign called “respect your life- not a knife” and has set up a “live the dream” foundation. It will break the links between “crime, drug use, knives and gang violence”. He also produced a film about a “cold-blooded loan shark”, starring American superstar rapper 50 Cent. He hopes that young people will leave their habits and actions and have someone to look up to, someone to look to for guidance, a role-model.

The Government have also proposed new legislations to crack down on knife crime. A new proposed law is that the prison sentence for possession of knives have increased from 2 years to 4 years. This will now discourage people from carrying knives for fear of being caught with possession of a knife and being sentenced to 4 years in prison. Also, the government are now increasing the minimum age to buy and offensive weapon such as a knife to 18 years of age. However, police have gathered records of that many shops still illegally sell knives to those under the legal age. A very big thing now being introduced, that the police now have the right to “stop-and-search” anyone that they suspect may be in possession of a knife.

It’s Working

There have been many claims from people, Government and campaigners alike that all types of crime are going down. Most of the public and opposers of Government cast a sceptical eye over it all. However, extensive research show that all types of crime have in fact gone down, supported by this information given about the Northumbria police area, kindly given by the Northumbria police force under the “freedom of information act”.

The Real Change

Scrap Government initiatives and endless campaigns, the real change must be within the youth. They are the ones who started it, do it, will do it for ever more if nothing is done, so therefore the ones who started it must finish it. It is not all adults, children in the masses believe that knife crime is bad and help their peers and give them support. The majority of children are moderately behaved and steer well clear of such evils. So, slowly but surely, the good children are winning over the bad ones, yet a lot of work still needs to be done

Shocking Facts

There are many devastating facts being released by the Government and various police forces under the ‘Freedom of Information’ act across the vast extent of the nation. These include:

· A knife-related offence is committed every 24 minutes

· In the past three months there have been over 2,000 stabbings, including 55 murders

· Shockingly, 62% of U.K. school pupils admit that they have previously carried a knife.

· 20% of 16-year-olds have admitted to pulling a knife out on someone and intending to seriously injure them.

What is being done about it?

A wide variety of things are being done to try and neutralise knife crime and eliminate its fatal influences in the British streets. Football star Rio Ferdinand has launched a campaign called ‘respect your life- not a knife’ and has set up a ‘live the dream’ foundation. It will break the links between ‘crime, drug use, knives and gang violence’. He also produced a film about a ‘cold-blooded loan shark’, starring American superstar rapper 50 Cent. He hopes that young people will leave their habits and actions and have someone to look up to, someone to look to for guidance, a role-model.

The Government have also proposed new legislations to crack down on knife crime. A new proposed law is that the prison sentence for possession of knives have increased from 2 years to 4 years. This will now discourage people from carrying knives for fear of being caught with possession of a knife and being sentenced to 4 years in prison. Also, the government are now increasing the minimum age to buy and offensive weapon such as a knife to 18 years of age. However, police have gathered records of that many shops still illegally sell knives to those under the legal age. A very big thing now being introduced, that the police now have the right to ’stop-and-search’ anyone that they suspect may be in possession of a knife.

It’s working

There have been many claims from people, Goverment and campaigners alike that all types of crime are going down. Most of the public and opposers of Goverment cast a skeptical eye over it all. However, extensive research show that all types of crime have in fact gone down, supported by this information given aabout the Northumbria police area, kindly given by the Northumbria police force under the ‘freedom of information act’.

The Real Change

Scrap Goverment initiatives and endless campigns, the real change must be withi the youth. They are the ones who started it, do it, will do it for ever more if nothing is done, so therefore the ones who started it must finish it. It is not all adults, children in the masses believe that knife crime is bad and help their peers and give them support. The majority of children are moderately behaved and steer well clear of such evils. So, slowly but surely, the good children are winning over the bad ones, yet a lot of work still needs to be done.

I really don’t have an answer for the youths who feel that this is a way to live and communicate to the rest of the world how they feel. The problems that these youngsters have can be very serious or just an excuse to run riot. The situation is compounded by the slow death of moral guidance in what used to be the three main bastions, church, school and the family. Church is almost a dirty word in Britain and most Christians feel compelled to keep quite about there faith for fear of being branded racist, schools have become so impotent in their ability to enforce codes of conduct that they have become drop-in centres for kids and as for the family, if a kid is lucky enough to have both parents at home its going to be a miracle if they can actually speak to them as they are both probably working double shifts to make the house payments.

So if no one is around to help and guide kids they will simply do it themselves and make their own rules up.

One police officer told me that if I was in fear of being attacked in my own home to make sure I kept a hammer handy. This was an unofficial comment but it sends a clear message from the police force, we cant really help you so help yourself. Great. I would suggest to anyone thinking about confronting violent or anti social behaviour to be very careful about carrying any kind of weapon, and this goes for all the youngsters who carry knives to look cool or “for my own protection”; NEVER carry anything that could be used against you in a fight.

My advice to anyone who is really living in fear of their lives, is to contact a proper self defence instructor. Not your local Karate club, as almost all modern martial arts are simply not appropriate to “street” situations. Any art that has rules is of no use to you. You should be able to know enough to make you confident about handling situations with no more than a few hours of training in close quarters combat.

I used to run a busy inner-city pub and many of my fellow bar owners had baseball bats or clubs under the bar. Not really a good idea. I used to have a bowel of pepper and chilli mixed up. If you know what your doing with that you can take out 10 men and still walk them out of the door. You see it isn’t years of training that you need to be able to take care of  you and yours, it’s the right information and the right tools for the job. If you do find someone that claims to know serious techniques ask him/her about using a pen or thumb to take someone out, if they don’t know, or look like they are fishing for an answer, find someone else.

I teach Japanese martial arts to over 18s only, its not pretty, its not sport but it will save your life. If anyone needs any advice I will gladly help as much as I can. Oh one more thing, if you do end up hurting an attacker NEVER say it was in self defence, always say I was in fear for my life and I don’t remember exactly what happened, a small technical point, most relevant in England.

In fact the government is so concerned that some quick legislation was proposed to arrest the situation such as taking the culprits to visit victims of knife crimes in the hospitals, arresting any youth found with a knife under a stop and search rule but these steps are been addressed as cosmetic.

Also research has revealed that most of those involved in this crime are primarily youths and are normally boys. They often go to the point of stabbing their victims to death without any respect for law or sacredness of life. They are even proud to carry the knife on them like an asset and ready to put it to use at the slightest provocation little wonder the knife crime keep increasing. Thank God that gun is not licensed in Great Britain, one wonders what damage that would have caused if they can do all this with knives.

We can not forget in a hurry how Nigerian children like Damilola Taylor and others were murdered in cold blood and who knows the next to be hit by this rampaging monsters disguising as youths. Am consoled now that it is not just the black children that are subject of attacks, even the white children and adults too are becoming victims going by the recent killings we have seen. But when will all this nonsense ever stop is the question on everybody’s lips

In my own view, l don’t see it stopping now because the government itself is disconnected from the needs of the youths little wonder they have become the devil’s hand tool. The whole drama makes me weep for the kind of society we have created for ourselves.

Firstly, the uncensored electronic media have exposed the youths to so much violence and crime. As a result, they have become more vulnerable to what they see everyday on television and the internet. And it is only natural and commonsensical for them to practice what they see especially since they have so much latent energy not been channelled positively. The youths here have been left on their own too much that their development rest on external forces instead of internal forces like a cohesive family system, good engagement programmes in and after school. How else can a society bedevilled with lot of divorces and broken marriages bring up children that are responsible to the society as a whole. This accounts for why the number of youths engaged in various social vices keep rising to the North and added to that the actual crisis is still being underestimated.

The government votes in a budget for the welfare of unemployed youths but even at that many of them don’t see any dignity in labour, they prefer to collect the benefit and waste away their lives rather than work to earn a good living. It is gladdening to note that a review of the welfare benefit system is now underway and we hope the lapses will be corrected.

Moreover, the youths here though have lot of recreational facilities to help them develop physically and otherwise but they lack quality programmes that will keep them engaged and diverted from crime such as out of school programmes, summer holiday programmes and voluntary organisations are either too few or lack the financial capacity to attract these youths to their fold.

Again, most of the efforts put in by the government have remained curative instead of preventive since prevention have been proved to be better than cure. It follows that we must go an extra mile to curb this menace ravaging like fire before it snowball into a culture among the youths.

The family system was meant to be the first socialisation agent and to serve as a springboard for` the mental, social and physical well being of the child. It is suppose to act as checkmate where necessary so the child doesn’t become a social burden to the family or society at large. Some psychologist has posited that children brought up in a family setting are more likely to develop well mentally, physically and morally. This is because it’s most certain parents will always find time to look into what their children are doing, the kind of company they keep, what they do outside their home, in school and all that.

In the past you will even see grandparents being involved in the upbringing of their own grand children but this culture is fast disappearing since children sometimes tend to have more attachment and respect for those grandparents who are involved with them when they are transiting from their different phases of life. While those that are religious among them are quick to introduce their grandchildren early enough to religious beliefs that the child can follow. And when the child misbehaves there are always ways to correct the child without having to spare the rod to spoil the child.

However, what baffles me now is how quick the family system has broken down. In these days little attachment is given to family ties and family engagement as it was in the Victorian times. Therefore, parents must brace up to the fact that there is a time bomb on their hand and the earlier they put it off the better for them and the society because no one can tell whose child will be next hit or join the league of attacked victims.

Besides, we cannot have a sane society where even the family that is supposed to be the bedrock of the society is seriously found wanting and in crisis.

And the government must increase their level of support for the family system by creating policies that will encourage family cohesiveness and reduce the divorce rate by creating multi door channels for reconciliation for families undergoing marital challenges

Consequently, the government of the day need to do more in order to curb the menace of youth crime by getting youths more involved in community service, inculcating it in their academic curricular from the start, getting these youths into organised youth clubs, increasing the censoring of the media content for children on Television and putting those convicted of youth crime to more community service.

In addition, stakeholders in the social sector should be consulted regularly on issues that borders on youth crime because their views help to shape the direction of policies.

Also the government need to increase funding to the youth sector and enhance the monitoring of policy initiatives closely in the sector. And such policies should reflect current trend in meeting the needs and aspirations of the most vulnerable sector of the society “youths” such that efforts should be concentrated more on the preventive technique than curative techniques.

The youths too should be given a voice in matters that concerns them before any law is enacted through their organised representatives or any other forum where youths can be reached for their inputs because when they are involved, the law becomes a part of them rather them being alienated by the law.

And not until the government realises how disconnected they are from the youths of today, the war against knife crime would have been lost already.