AOG - //More stop and searches in the areas where knife crime is most frequent, and no pussy footing about if one is caught carrying a knife, 10 years min. //
In order to address an issue like this, it is necessary to be aware of the psychology involved, and to work around it.
For disaffected young men who find their missing sense of identity and belonging in a gang culture, the notion of stop-and-search simply underlines their 'outlaw' status, simultaneously excluding them further from mainstream society, and bonding them with their surrogate family and support system - their gang.
The idea that these young men make the connection between knife crime and prison is simply not viable - that this the thinking of a mature member of society - these young men are neither of those.
Education is the way forward, but it needs to start with a sense of self-respect and respect for others in nursery school, and on from there, and as I have opined many times, no government will invest in the money needed because this is a long-term solution, and governments want four-year results for their actions, to assist them in future elections.