The media affects us all. There is no denying this fact, and no one is more affected by the media than our children. Whilst researching the effect of crime on media, we have discovered that there is an astronomical perception gap between the media's portrayal of the severity and frequency of crimes and the corresponding police-recorded crimes. For example, a study by Harper and Hogue uncovered that, in Scotland, sexual  offences take up 20% of media stories however only 2% of actual crimes. This creates an exaggerated sense of fear in communities, prohibiting cohesion as people view themselves as more likely to fall victim to a crime. Is this what we want for our area? Whilst teens are most impressionable to the wrong type of media they are also the most impressionable to the opposite. If we can educate our children now, we can prevent antisocial behaviour and a further cycle of crime  and violence. We can evoke a change. We can protect the future generation with education. Even if one child decides that they don't need to carry a weapon, if one future producer sees that media framing exploits victims, our action will have been successful. It's one or two lessons for an entire future population being a little safer, do you not believe this to be valuable?

We are proposing that the schools in our area spend a single lesson/ form time focusing on the effects of crime on the media (and vice versa), focusing on how to prevent the exploitation of victims and how we can stop ourselves from being negatively affected. We have all heard stories of children (the most important yet vulnerable members of our society) carrying knives to “protect” themselves. It is the media that catalyses this thought process. We found that the majority of young people (53 per cent) felt unsafe, scared and worried upon seeing images of knives confiscated from youths posted on social media by police. It is imperative that our children are educated now, both for their own peace of mind and their safety. How can we deny them this simple request? We are not asking for censorship, we are asking for understanding, for all the facts to be laid out and for the risk of the media to be recognised.

It is true that we could continue as we are now, with the same crime rates, with the same fear. But, I for one, think that this education could be invaluable in keeping our area that little bit safer. Would you not want to contribute to keeping our children safe? What is the disadvantage of our proposal? Please help to save our future, please sign our petition, there are no other obligations. Just one signature from you can allow us to make our area safer and more pleasant for all citizens.