TV’s June Sarpong, 31, backs the News of the World’s save our streets campaign – and says women are key

Our cities are seeing a horrifying number of teenagers dying on their streets, often the result of involvement in gangs.

Women, as ever, are left to pick up the pieces in families and communities. That should not be our role.

We want relief, not grief. It seems to me that women – mothers, sisters and girlfriends – could have the answer. We have a lot to offer and should be forceful in making ourselves heard.

Women, in families and in relationships, can show the common sense, quiet power and loud determination it takes to turn the gang problem around.

We can insist that boys will never be men in our eyes as long as they carry a knife or a gun, or seek the false cool of being in a gang.

And we can teach girls that a sense of identity comes from family and friendship, not the misplaced sisterhood of a gang. If we crack that, we can challenge this whole stupid ‘culture’.

Let’s face it, mothers know more about the minds of their children, and the way they behave, than anyone else. They bring their sons and daughters into the world and help to shape their characters.

Girlfriends and boyfriends know what makes their partner tick when they’re out on the streets, and so they should intervene to prevent fatal violence. They shouldn’t underestimate the power for good they can be.

It will be because of stronger families and stronger relationships that gangs will diminish, helped by stronger schools that open the door of opportunity.

Over the past decade, inner city schools have steadily improved.

Urban children are achieving more in education than ever before, yet violent youth crime persists. Why?

Perhaps there has been too much focus at national level, and not enough in the classrooms and homes where young people at “high risk” of offending spend their time.

More should be done to encourage local action on the causes of crime – poor housing, poverty, school exclusions, drugs, absent fathers and fractured families.

Guns and gangs have been a growing problem for years, and it will take a long time to cultivate the solutions.

It may take a decade, probably more, working with children from the earliest age, and with their parents, before we see tangible improvements.

More celebrity role models are an obvious answer, but fame is fleeting and fragile. The best and most consistent role models are good parents, loving siblings and encouraging friends.

Children should learn how to integrate with other people at home, and then in a strong community, which has inspiring facilities for study and leisure.

Yes, we should also be tough. Crime and antisocial behaviour are intolerable. Discipline is everything, in the home, in school and on the street.

Yes, the Government is right to tackle poverty, but it must also give more attention to the strains of debt on low-income families, and to the increasing lure of consumer culture on our children.

It’s for the Government to listen and help, but it’s for women to say “enough is enough” to our men.

June Sarpong is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust.

What do you think about gang violence? What do you think is the solution to gang culture? Have you ever been in a gang? Have you been threatened or intimidated by a gang?

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Photography: Matt Writttle/Eyevine, Photolibrary.com