Singer and Former Model Believes Music With Gospel Message is Solution to Violent Knife Culture in Britain
"It must not be entertainment because the youth culture are entertained to the max. They have everything and they’re out of control. The power of Christian media is essential to reaching their hearts. When you become a Christian you are given the potential to see spiritually... Without that spiritual insight you just see the suffering and the fear and the anger. I pray that music will be a part of the manifestation of anti-violence in this country."
(London, England)—Today, there is great concern about violent crime in Britain, especially when it comes to knives and their availability to children. Reports from hospital Accident & Emergency departments indicate a rise in stab wounds, particularly among young men aged between 14 and 25.
"We are seeing more and more stab wounds—even five years ago, these were pretty rare. Young males in particular are carrying knives on a daily basis, and if they carry them, they use them," says John Heyworth, of the British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine.
Those young men are often of school age, according to a survey by the Youth Justice Board this year. It found that of the crimes committed by young people, carrying a knife was the most common offence among children excluded from school (62 percent).
Regarding Britain’s new knife culture, pop singer Yazz stated that "these knifing attacks seem to be just unsolicited—just anger and rage in youth."
Yazz was born in 1960, in Shepherds Bush, West London. Her father was Jamaican and her mother, English. A former catwalk model, she remembers working in London's Soho district and dodging "drug addicts, prostitutes and pimps." Her own life took a downturn when she realized that everything like fame and riches were empty prizes from a business that felt like they owned you. It was in 1996 that she was recovering from a breakdown and agoraphobia. While lying on her bed she randomly picked up a Bible and began reading it. A peace began to come over her that she had never experienced before. It gave her a totally new perspective on life and its purpose. She eventually moved to Spain to be with her husband and daughter. It is here that, today, she works in a local Christian church and a charity that reaches out to alcoholics and drug addicts.
When asked about the solution the singer said, "I see the potential for Christian music to reach into the hearts of these young people. But the music has to get out there and it has to be made in a way that relates to them and yet is not compromising the Gospel of Christ.
She continued: "It must not be entertainment because the youth culture are entertained to the max. They have everything and they’re out of control. The power of Christian media is essential to reaching their hearts. When you become a Christian you are given the potential to see spiritually. Therefore, we have to see these youth as Jesus sees them. He sees them with the potential to be who He wants them to be. Without that spiritual insight you just see the suffering and the fear and the anger. I pray that music will be a part of the manifestation of anti-violence in this country."
