Updated: Misrepresented by a journalist for a Dutch Newspaper

Update:
I have been in contact with Sanne and it would appear that there is bit of a mis understanding her translation of what she writes is: ‘I’m worried about the violence,’ he writes. ‘And I think young people get a raw deal in the media. It often has to do with violence and stuff. That only gets people into a panic.’ which is a lot close to what I had originally written then the translations that I had before hand. She has also apologised for calling me a T-shirt Designer. I have apologised for getting the wrong end of the stick and I am glad that it has been sorted out, I am going to leave my original post below so that you can read the whole of what I had to say on the issue.

Yeah I know it sounds surreal, but that is actually the situation I have found myself in. Seriously, the things I get myself into. If you found my website through the blog post by Sanne Rooseboom - http://www.depers.nl/buitenland/468022/Bendeoorlog.html I would firstly like to point out that I am not a t-shirt designer, it isn't even a part of what I have done in the past, although it may well become part of what I do in the future, short and/or long term. Also below is my original comment on the situation to Sanne, I feel that my views haven't really been done justice and have perhaps been moulded to fit slightly more in with the views of the main stream media. Me views come from studying Sociology, which included a module on the media including how it reports on and affects minority groups and research that I did for my knife crime project last year.

Below is the original message that I sent to Sanne:

Why are you active against knife crime?:
The Nottinghamshire area where I live in the UK is one of the worst for knife crime. The police and Crimestoppers asked our college to get design students to produce a range of posters for them. Also the view that people have of young people is an important issue close to my heart, I feel that we get a raw deal from the media. It was a project that I was passionate about, I think that as a designer feeling that you are helping to make a difference in a real way is great and will always be the best projects that you get.

Do you think the problem is getting less or worse?
Information that I found when researching the project suggests that knife crime as a problem is not getting worse in itself, but the demography of those committing offences is changing. The statistics have slowly changed to show more young people rather then adults committing offences. The media and government have both released data over the last couple of years to show that there has been growth in recent years and data to show that the problem is being reversed recently. The old adage "statistics, statistics, statistics" comes into play and I think it is possible to read what you want into it. There is certainly a feeling among the public that it is getting worse and has been turned into a moral panic, however I feel that a lot of this is down to the media and the way the issue is presented rather then first hand knowledge and hard facts about the issue. However not living within a city I may have a different perspective on the issue to those that do as gang culture is not such a big issue (especially as I live out of town as well).

What about awareness among young people?
This is increasing with campaigns being run, and education being given around the issue however it is a drip drip process. Again it isn't such a big issue because of my location. However I think there is a fairly wide awareness due to the media attention given to the issue. I do however feel that the media attention often only perpetuates the situation, it also only acts to create a moral panic.

After using a translator this is how the part of the blog that mentions me comes across: Through an anti-knife crime Facebook Site I in the mail with James, a boy from Nottinghamshire who designs T-shirts against knife violence. "I am worried about the violence," he writes. "And also about how young people in the media emerge. Usually associated with violence and shit. If you hunt people just fear. "So he designs T-shirts. Because there was no place for him in my article, at this link.

I'm sure some of it is down to translation errors but even so I don't think it represents my views.