In recent weeks, both police and schools have issued warnings to parents about social media posts urging the young – and the very young - to take sides in a battle known as ‘red and blue’.
The unwanted call to arms is literally that, urging young people - some even in primary schools - to carry knives, and generally inciting violence across parts of London.
However, the obvious fear now is the issue could spread wider in the UK thanks to the power of social media, and particularly TikTok.
Posts have shown images targeting pupils of specific age groups and schools literally ‘to arms,’ almost turning the violence into computer game-like battles.
One retailer Convenience Store spoke to, Bintesh Amin of Londis Eltham in South London, said the worrying trend had prompted him to offer protection for anyone fearing violence in his store. He took to Facebook to post a video offering shelter in his store. “While I don’t really want to give the movement any publicity, we’ve always offered a safe space,” he said.
“Schools in this area are sending emails to parents, so I put the message out for our customers. It’s a safe shop. Come in and just be safe. Don’t get involved with it. Ignore it.
“I haven’t experienced of it, but I just want the kids to be safe. I see 101 kids literally every day coming in and I don’t want to see anything happen to any one of them. I don’t want anything to happen in my area.”
Bintesh adds that although he has seen issues around crime in his area before, the new ‘craze’ is more worrying: “We’ve had issues before on our high street where kids have come in and we’ve had to call the police and the parents and we’ve looked after them.
“But now they’re just doing all sorts of unnecessary stuff and some of it’s leading to violence and weapons and all that stuff.
“I just want kids to know we’re a safe place they can come to.”
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