I know what it's like to be one of the kids in a children's home and then turn up at school carrying a whole load with you. I'm not here to moralise — I'm here to tell it like it is and try to change a few lives. "We see the kids that are in there today, remember I was in there" and "you used to be very, like, how I was getting on, but you didn't make it warm" — so this is about how we approach those young people differently, and how parents and carers can do better, too.
How I came up and why I say this
I left school in the early 90s and was moving around — family stuff, social services, that sort of life. I don't want to go into every detail, but it shaped me. I had relationships, I started working, and I also did time. Prison changed me: it was regimented back then, proper army-style, and you come out carrying the spiral effects of it.
Because I lived it, I can see how institutionalisation works: you get used to being in a place and it becomes the environment you know. That doesn't make you a monster, but it does mean the way you re-enter life needs handling, and that should factor into how we support young people before and after custody.
What I want teachers and carers to do
Don't make it all obvious in front of everyone. Some teachers protected me, but others made it cold. You're there to teach — yes, show care, but in private and without making the kid feel like the whole school knows their business.
Check in properly. If you're a parent or a working mum or dad leaving every morning, go and check your son's door sometimes. A little consistency can stop that knock on the door none of us want to hear.
On gangs, the road and responsibility
There's a generation willing to make money off the road but not willing to risk it themselves — and often it's the kids who get sent in. Think about that. Sending your son's kid to do a job an adult should do is daft; I saw that pattern from people I knew in prison.
When people glamorise prison or the road on social media, be sceptical. Loads of the hype's for show: the ones rapping about it might actually be writing and educating themselves. Work hard, pick up a book, and don't let the internet or someone else's success dictate you into a lane that wasn't yours.
A few plain truths to end on
I'm not trying to change one person — I'm trying to change several. If we get a handful right, that can ripple through generations. I'm talking to kids: put the knives down, seriously. Prison isn't for everyone, and a lot of people inside didn't mean to end up there.
I'm doing this free, live, because I want to reach people quickly. I'm going to keep having these conversations and bringing other people on so we can hear different sides. If you want to listen, listen properly.
Adapted from my video with AI assistance. The video is the original account.
Read the video transcript +
Welcome, Legion's Word. Yeah, so following up from last week, I remember I've just come out of secondary school, and yeah, no, no, no, I'll go firm. Let me just quickly just finish on the little children's home thing, just a little scenario, just I'm going to be about 10 seconds, yeah? So we see the kids that are in there today, remember I was in there, and we got a little, like some of us go to school, and with the school as well, some of us got little behavior problems in it, and relating to the school today as well, I'm just going to be briefly, we're going to dive into this topic later on with other people coming to tell me their side of the story as well, innit? But I think you need to approach us kids a bit differently, and just try and address us differently, and same for the school, as I said, when I used to go to school, you used to be very, like, how I was getting on, but you didn't make it warm, like, when I mean warm, sorry, let me use another, you didn't make it obvious that I was coming from maybe a different place, and you kind of protected me, certain teachers, innit? But what I find today as well, you lot kind of look for these kids, and then they come to school, and you're trying to, you're doing too much, like, remember, hopefully, but teachers, remember, you're there to teach as well, some of these kids that were coming in, and you're giving us, like, them little over cuddles and that, but kind of do it in private and not make it all about what's going on at home, and more about teaching us in school, and we can get that conversation going on during school on certain times, but don't always isolate them, us, or whoever's going through it today, and you know what I'm trying to say, but we're going to get that conversation again, but let me move on anyway, yeah? But we're going to get back to that during the, like, topics with different people sitting on the chair, yeah? Now, for me, I left school in 93, and remember I said I'd done a little move on my dad, come home with social services, but my dad kind of dropped me out for me, not dropped me out, like, really, I can't, I'm not here to discipline you, then, cool, so, you can make the authorities take over, mum couldn't really do with me, no, she could do with me, respect my mum, but you know what I'm saying, I'm just playing that, remember I said we go out, and I'm one of the kids, we go from school, get changed, and I'm playing that, with loads of different individuals, doing little things, and I said little things, and then, started going to work, boys' school, didn't last long, as I said, it's a boys' school, so that wasn't for me, and then them days, it's like, I'm coming out to like 93, 94, as I spoke earlier on in the period, is when my brother went to prison, no, police used to come for my older brother, so he kind of went prison, 94, 95, yeah, and he got a big sentence, and I prefer him to explain that side of his life, if he's willing to come and sit in, hopefully he will sometime, because he can explain a lot, so once he went to prison, I was kind of free, because my dad, remember I said I've done a move on my dad, so my brother was kind of still keeping an eye out for me, you know them little big brother roles, they'd kind of keep you
the streets and so on. And all the other people I spoke about earlier on in the story was influencing my life. But anyway, so let me go 93, 93, 94. Remember, as I said again, I got 93, 94. I remember I got relationships. You start getting involved with women. And I've had my fair share of little girlfriends here and there. But remember, as I said, I'm going to go for a life story, and I'm going to give you stages of my life. Not going to go delving. I will eventually when I've got other people who's lived with me, been around me, and we're all consensual to what we're going to say next. Yeah, furthermore. Yeah, but moving forward again. I went into relationships, met a beautiful woman. Let me give it like that. Then obviously, remember, I was in prison. I think 96, I done six weeks in prison. 97, prison. I'm trying to change things, you know, just a bit with the schooling. I can go back there. I'm not going to stay with school. Prison has changed, innit, because my prison was like regiment. It was like army, 100%. And if you've done it in 96, 97, 98, them little early years, the prison's changed a lot. And remember, I can only talk about it because I was in the prison with all the changes, bearing in mind when I was born, my age, and you can work that out, how many years, what I was doing. So I've done the cycle change in prison. What I learned, and hopefully people, I don't know how many people, well, I know loads of people have been in that system, how it's designed today. So for me, what's worrying for me, what I'm going to have to explain, it's worrying for me because the kids, we was all, people talk about institutionalization, that's because you've been in a place a long time and get used to it and used to it, and you kind of, the environment you come from, you can't really get back into that depending on how long you've done it, you know, and depending on the people around you and the structure around you. And the reason I'm going to talk about prison, because I see a lot of people on these platforms glamorizing it, and I'm not, no, no, it is what it is. It's an institution, it's an establishment, and as we know by law, it's there to put people that are naughty, bad, locking them away, and it's cool. Now we talk about the change. How do we make change? Now when I'm saying early years in prison, it was different, and it was regiment, they gave you things, and I think if it's not a set up, I'd understand, they changed it on purpose, because my generation, we came from, we got a lot of teaching from young offenders and little prison things again, once again, again, it can't be all bad.
Because a lot of my prison experience wasn't bad. But let me not just dwell on me for a minute because I'm going to get through these conversations with people. We've got to talk about the women, the children that were leaving behind. As I was speaking to the physios, the searching, babe, do this, do that, do that, do that. The spiral effect is massive. So it's beyond our control. So we can all be lit sitting there. The money, yeah, the money can be great. Some of the money ain't even making no money. Let's be real because I know a million people. We've all tried to, like, is it that successful on the road? Some of it is. So we're not here. But then a lot of the stuff our kids have done, like even down to the violence and the way we're dealing with our kids today. And even that stereotype. Yeah, because even I'm going to go prison school, Kelly. They're molding our kids. Look like this, be like this, look like this, be like this. Too fat, too slim, too. One thing again, as parents in it, we've got to have some control how we're parenting our kids in it. So when we talk about races, color and all these things, these are another thing. We're going to be crazy with this in it because I didn't experience none of that. But let me not go to that topic just yet again. I'm going to stick to the prison thing. So the prison comes in spiral effects, as we all know. I spent years in my kids have mostly done bear sentences as well because they've had to visit. And then the women and everyone that can relate to these things in it. So let's try and just address the kids differently. The ones like me and the ones older than me. I'm not actually here. I'm here to listen. And please come in the conversation and please try and introduce the next generation to the conversation. But I can't really be teaching you because you might have made a million mistakes. But the ones that we can help. And I'm not saying, listen, this is one of them things like, you know, like if you don't hear, if you don't hear, you will feel in it. That's what we used to be told. You don't need to feel. So I'm just going to talk to the kids, not to say, boy, look at mine. No, no, no. I'm just here to try and change a few lives. Yeah. And if we change a few, you know, when you go for bait, they say change one. That's dead. I'm not trying to change one, five, six, seven. I'm more happy with that. Yeah. And then that seven changes, that seven and that seven. And so my grandson and then his son and then my son's son. You know what I'm saying? They're going to change their finger into the original fingers. And when I mean original fingers, like the fingers that was my mom, dad, brother's generation. The ones I used to speak about earlier in my speech that was influenced. They come from electricians, plumbers. All of my mom, brothers and my aunt, they've all was legal and successful. So we know the finances have changed. It's a bit difficult now to do what they was doing in that time. So we all understand that. But as I said, again, this ain't a, this is me just trying to give you a piece of what I've been through, how I've come out, not even come out. Cause do we even actually come out of it? Yeah. Cause we're all looking for the same thing in it. Peace and happiness. Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. And we believe in God. Yeah. One, one, one. So that's the main thing. Yeah. But we're losing direction in it. We're not in encouraging the next one. And there's another thing I talk about. We talk about prison and crime. So there's a generation and it's not mine, but there's a generation that takes other generations. So you're doing, you've come to be.
You come to make money on the road. But you're not willing to risk it, but you're willing for someone else's kid to risk it. And if this don't relate to you, look, no problem, innit? But this is something we have to address as well, innit? Are we really looking for a kid to do a job that an adult can do? So you don't do the time or somebody's story. And I'm getting this from prison stories and real life stories. Wait, wait, wait. You want him to do it because he's young and he can do the bird and you won't get that much time. And come on, man, listen to yourselves, man. It sounds crazy. Yeah, send your son on the road. Send your son first and then I'll send my son second. For instance, innit? But we don't want our kids to do it, innit? So we don't want our kids to do certain things. Why are we even promoting it and willing to make someone else's kid do it, innit? But we can go there later on as well. Just delve into it a bit, innit? And just listen to what I'm saying because it's not a joke. When the lights are out, they're out, yeah? And that's what I'm saying. I'm not here. My lights haven't been out, innit? Because I'm sitting on the chair talking, trying to educate you lot about life. My lights have still been dimmed a lot of the times, innit? But they're not out. So we're just trying to say don't be out and let me just be raw to the things. My life story, as I said, I was thinking about how long I'm going to go in my story before I'm trying to tell the kids, put the knives down. That's what I'm trying to do. Put them down. Put them down. Don't make your brother be a loving, big up, you know what I mean? If you lot can't have the basic scraps, call it a day. Because one thing I've learnt from being bare bird, yeah? Prison, or time, prison time, yeah? For people that don't understand the language, yeah? It's not for everyone. And when I keep saying this back and forth, I've been in there with bare youths. They're not killers. They didn't mean to do this. They're not all good. Some of them, yeah, you're evil. And evil, where evil stays easy, will belong in it. But let's try and teach differently anyway. But back again, let me not. Today is a gang. You're going to say, oh, look, and I'll talk to myself. I'm crazy, yeah, because I'm Russian. Not Russian because I haven't got time, but I don't want to over speak, yeah? I'm going to dwell into prisons. I've got my mate coming on the chair next week. I'm going to start interviewing people. Not interviewing people. Me and my mate are going to have a discussion. Hopefully he can give you his life stories that can change your life as well in the best possible way, yeah? Another thing, when we're here to just literally talk and change, yeah? And it's free, yeah? So if you're willing to listen, please listen. Mums out there as well. We know mums and dads hard, you know, but we have to concentrate on our kids. And especially, I'm going to relate this one to the working ones quickly as well, because you're going to work every morning. Boom, check on your son's door. Don't make him blind you like he's blind a million parents. And then we're getting them silly knocks on the door. And this is where it could be knocked for the police. And the knocks, we don't want a knock where you can't recover, yeah? So please listen in. And then back to just a little one on relationships, and because that's a bit of the topic. Remember, I've been in a relationship, whatever. I've been in a long relationship, so on and so on. But as I said, the girls today, the boys, deal with them better, man. Let's try and respect the generation, because we come from women, innit? Let's respect them. And you women, not getting on to you. Respect yourself as well. Not saying you don't, but we're not all the same, innit? All shapes and size, all colours. Don't let the system push you into some make-believe. And another thing for the kids, come on, man.
We don't buy happiness, you know. Happiness comes free still. So just enjoy what you're doing. Don't go, just, you know what it is, be respectful and just try and change the way we're doing it. And this goes for all the races. Now the white youths are going crazy, the black, the Asians, we're all tough, we're all hard, we all want to be the next guy that's not. And another thing, a lot of these guys, I ain't telling you the right. See the ones that might have even never done nothing wrong but they're rapping about doing it and remember what they're doing. Watch what they're doing. They're rapping, they're writing, they're educating themselves. Yeah, you won't be writing them. So that tells you they're working hard to get where they get to in it. So work hard pays off in it. We work hard to pay, yeah, to get to where we want to get to in it. That's what we have to do. So let's not get caught up in it. And as I said again, the internet, it's a serious thing. My kids, I live it. So I'm going to talk from experience. Pick up a book and kind of don't be what you was always going to be before you woke up and see your mate and he decided that something went great in his life on Monday and now you've changed your lane. That was great for him, not for everyone, yeah. Listen, this is supposed to be a short one but thanks for listening. Yeah, I'm going to stop this. I'm TikTok live in it because my people said no, we've got to reach them a bit faster and quicker, yeah. And yeah, and that's why I said I woke up today, we've got to reach you quicker. That's why I've kind of tweaked it. My life story is still on, it's still going to be, it's a good one to listen to but there's going to be other people introducing my life story with theirs moving forward, yeah. So thank you for listening today. Yeah, appreciate you. See you soon. Bye.
