An open letter to Scotland’s adults: it takes a village

From Lyndsay McDade, Fearless Scotland Manager, Crimestoppers.

No child should ever believe that picking up a knife is their best or only option. If they do, we as adults have to pause and ask ourselves: what on earth is going on? Why is it happening, and what should we do differently?

I’ve been asking myself this more and more recently, both through my work and as a mum.

Fearless, the youth service of Crimestoppers, has launched a new campaign for young people across TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram. It has been created with young people, including those with experience of the justice system, who shared their time and ideas. The content is hard-hitting. The videos and key messages are built around the serious, long-lasting impact that carrying a weapon can have on you, your family and so many others.

Spending time with young people and discussing this has made one thing very clear to me. They cannot be asked to carry this alone. Their lives are shaped by the adults around them - by the love we offer, the fairness we demand and the kind of society we create together. One where every young person feels cared for, believed in and fought for. To make a campaign only for them would have been deeply unfair, as though the weight sat solely on their shoulders. We needed a campaign for adults too.

It takes a village

The adult strand is an invitation for all of us to look gently at the part we play. If we want safer communities, we have to build them. Together.

Every young person moves through streets, schools, workplaces and online spaces shaped by grown-ups. The messages we send, the examples we set, the warmth we offer, all of it becomes the world they grow up in.

Safer young people grow in safer villages. And those villages are ours to build.

Right now, though, it feels like that village has gone missing. We hear so often that Scotland is full of “feral yobs” and violent teens that we’ve started to believe it. Yet most young people make great choices and cause no harm.

Here’s a short, honest video that offers the reality behind the headlines:

Find out more about the campaign

When harm happens, there’s almost always something underneath. Fear. Trauma. Pressure. Poverty.

The painful feeling that no one’s listening. Some carry weapons because they’re scared and wrongly believe it will keep them safe. Others because it feels normal in the life they live. None because they feel safe, valued or hopeful.

Understanding why harm happens doesn’t excuse it. It helps us stop it. If we want fewer young people to be hurt or harm others, we have to look beyond the moment of violence to the conditions that allowed it to happen.

A clearer picture

Violence is far lower than it was 15 years ago. It feels difficult to imagine right now, but the statistics are clear that progress has been made.

Between 2009-10 and 2024-25, there was a 67% drop in emergency hospital admissions due to assault with a sharp object. Among children under 15, admissions for the same cause fell by 44%. And over the past 20 years, the number of homicide victims aged 13 to 19 has fallen by 63%, while overall homicides remain at a record low.

If it were my own child injured, though, statistics would mean nothing. They wouldn’t ease my fear and, in the worst circumstance, no number would comfort grief. One young person hurt or killed is far too many.

We cannot be complacent. Since 2023–24, police-recorded non-sexual violent crime has increased by 1%, and crimes of handling an offensive weapon have risen by 12%. This shows us that we must continue to do more.

A safer Scotland starts with us

Every one of us matters. Parents. Grandparents. Teachers. Youth workers. Aunties. Uncles. Football coaches. Shopkeepers. Neighbours. Every conversation, every moment of patience, every adult who connects tells a young person you matter and you belong here.

That’s how we make our communities stronger. That’s how we make Scotland safer. Because when adults stop believing the worst about young people and start believing in their best, we build the kind of Scotland every child deserves.

So here’s my ask. Take a moment to think about what part you can play. How could you help a young person feel safer, understood and backed? What stories might you need to rethink? Here on our website, there’s a short, honest video that offers the reality behind the headlines. If you care about a young person, it gives you the kind of information you need to know, plus simple, practical ideas.

The village is us. And it’s time to show up.

Our young people need us all.

Lyndsay McDade
Fearless Scotland Manager, Crimestoppers