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Some young people claim they carry a knife for protection, but is it fear or fashion?

17-year-old Terry, who has been referred to Hackney Youth Offending Team, thinks it has more to do with current trends: 鈥淐ertain people these days, if you look at man wrong you get poked. It鈥檚 not even long; man will just poke you.鈥�

As Kevin, 17, said for some people it鈥檚 about reputation: 鈥淵ou might have a boy that鈥檚 shanking up everyone so it鈥檚 like he鈥檚 the new king in town. Someone else might come along and yank him up quickly and take that king. One of them ones.鈥�

But as Kevin also pointed out it鈥檚 only a minority of young people who think carrying a knife makes you a bigger person:

鈥淐ertain people carry it just like a fashion statement to say 鈥榶eah, look I鈥檝e got a knife, I鈥檝e got a knife, I鈥檝e got a gun.鈥� But obviously, if you鈥檝e got hard beef with someone and someone鈥檚 gonna do you damage when they catch you (then) you need to carry it. Cos it鈥檚 either me or you and I don鈥檛 wanna die.鈥�

The mentality for some 21st century youth is if someone violates you then you feel the urge to take someone鈥檚 life.

Today鈥檚 generation think that if you leave someone hurt they will come back for you. Whereas if you kill someone it is less likely that someone will come after you.

It鈥檚 often been said that peer pressure is one of the factors that leads to young people carrying weapons.

Yet as Terry said: 鈥淭hat peer pressure sh*t's a joke, man. I don鈥檛 like people that get peer pressure, make people tell them to do something. You鈥檙e your own person out here. No one can send me out to go rob a house or do something to kill someone.鈥�

Whilst talking to Kevin and Terry at Hackney鈥檚 Youth Offending service we realised there was one factor that most things came down to, something key in day-to-day life: communication & trust.

Could communication and trust be the way to stop the madness?

The young people felt strongly that a communication barrier existed between them and a particular group of people in society - the upper classes such as politicians and the government.

Kevin said: 鈥淧ersonally I don鈥檛 like them. What can we tell them that they鈥檙e gonna listen to.鈥�

Terry agreed: 鈥淭hey鈥檒l just listen to us for as long as they have to.鈥�

We felt that one of the main reasons for the increase in gun and knife crime is that everyone is growing up too fast and being exposed to things they shouldn鈥檛 be, for example Kevin told us:

鈥淵ou can buy pellet guns and obviously you can turn them into real guns. I鈥檝e bought bare pellet guns even when I was younger than what I am now. The shopkeepers don鈥檛 care as long as they鈥檙e getting their money, they鈥檙e easy. They鈥檒l even try and charge you extra because you鈥檙e a kid and they're selling it to you.鈥�

Gun and knife crime wasn鈥檛 brought to the surface until young people became adults quicker, which is why it鈥檚 now more exposed.

Some teenagers are acting in a reckless way and it looks like this will be a problem for a long time.

The names of the young people in this article have been changed.

This story was produced by Seyi Tongo, 17, Sam Abe, 14, Jason McLeod, 17, Akram Mohamed, 15 and Ali Mohamed, 14 from Headliners, a journalism programme for young people aged eight to 19. www.headliners.org