Is London Safe Enough?
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Are knife-wielding teenagers threatening our way of life more than terrorist fundamentalists?
When I came to London seven years ago, I was slightly anxious whether a city of this size would be safe enough to live in. I had never before lived in a major metropolis and was therefore concerned about the potential level of crime and what impact that would have on the chance of living comfortably and safely.
In general, I turned out the be positively surprised. Yes, they were stories from friends about break-ins, mobile phones being stolen and car windows being smashed, but not to the degree of me wanting to pick up my things and move to the countryside for more perceived security.
Then, terrorist atrocities hit London and claimed more than 50 lives of people like you and me. Tragic and unnecessary as these losses were, they didn't make me re-consider my way of life and the town in which I had chosen to live.
With car bombs fortunately not going off in the West End in 2006, friends of mine decided that they'd had enough and would leave the country to live somewhere seemingly not exposed to these threats. I still thought, however, that the positives outweighed the negatives.
In the last months, there have been unignorable headlines about knife crime in London, with almost 20 teenagers dead at the hands of other teenagers. Although I do not know how these numbers compare to recent years, this is too large a number of tragedies.
As my life recently changed through the birth of our first child, my wife and I independently thought about what this means to us.
I do not want to live in an environment where my son, once he is a teenager, cannot stay out with his friends and go on about harmless, adolescent business without fearing for his safety. When I grew up, my parents did not have to worry about us, apart from the usual anxieties about things like traffic accidents and broken limbs. You do not want to add the thought of somebody pulling a knife on your child to this list.
Before even discussing it, we both came to the conclusion that if the threat of physical harm still seems as prevalent when he is old enough to be at risk, we would probably move away and have him grow up in an environment we think of as being more secure.
Which would mean that some hooded teenagers with kitchen knives would have accomplished what terrorist fundamentalists have never done.
In general, I turned out the be positively surprised. Yes, they were stories from friends about break-ins, mobile phones being stolen and car windows being smashed, but not to the degree of me wanting to pick up my things and move to the countryside for more perceived security.
Then, terrorist atrocities hit London and claimed more than 50 lives of people like you and me. Tragic and unnecessary as these losses were, they didn't make me re-consider my way of life and the town in which I had chosen to live.
With car bombs fortunately not going off in the West End in 2006, friends of mine decided that they'd had enough and would leave the country to live somewhere seemingly not exposed to these threats. I still thought, however, that the positives outweighed the negatives.
In the last months, there have been unignorable headlines about knife crime in London, with almost 20 teenagers dead at the hands of other teenagers. Although I do not know how these numbers compare to recent years, this is too large a number of tragedies.
As my life recently changed through the birth of our first child, my wife and I independently thought about what this means to us.
I do not want to live in an environment where my son, once he is a teenager, cannot stay out with his friends and go on about harmless, adolescent business without fearing for his safety. When I grew up, my parents did not have to worry about us, apart from the usual anxieties about things like traffic accidents and broken limbs. You do not want to add the thought of somebody pulling a knife on your child to this list.
Before even discussing it, we both came to the conclusion that if the threat of physical harm still seems as prevalent when he is old enough to be at risk, we would probably move away and have him grow up in an environment we think of as being more secure.
Which would mean that some hooded teenagers with kitchen knives would have accomplished what terrorist fundamentalists have never done.
Here Is The Writer : Billy No Box
Billy No Box has worked in the city for six years, and currently works in Derivatives for a North American bank. He enjoys playing golf, reading books by Umberto Eco, singing "Copacabana" in the shower and at karaoke bars, and occasionally updating his blog about London and everything else.
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