Sending kids to boxing and martial arts’ classes could help fight knife crime and gang violence, MPs claim.
The Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee accuses the Government of overlooking sporting and cultural activities in favour of arresting and jailing youngsters over Britain’s blade culture.
Walking, football and choral singing could also be key to solving social problems in health, education and urban regeneration, it claims.
The report recommends that sport and culture are “better integrated within the work and policy objectives” of Whitehall departments to make them a “mainstream” way of delivering policy.
Committee chairman Damian Collins said: “We cannot break the debilitating cycle of gang violence and knife crime just by arresting those who commit offences.
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“Government statistics clearly show that custodial sentences in and of themselves do not necessarily rehabilitate young offenders.
“In schools we have seen that sport and culture can improve educational attainment as well as the well-being of the students.
“Social activities like group singing and walking football can improve the mental and physical health of those who take part.
“More needs to be done to co-ordinate and invest in community initiatives, share evidence of success and encourage others to emulate examples of best practice.”
The report highlights boxing and martial arts programmes as particularly useful in reaching young people, and calls for a Government review of their effectiveness in prisons.
The Mirror is campaigning to End the Knife Epidemic in the wake of the surge in bloodshed.
Our five demands are: more police with greater powers; reverse the cuts to youth services; boost awareness of knife crime in schools; tackle the problems behind the epidemic; and appoint a dedicated knife crime tsar.
