Lights, camera and now Mad Wae It

• Watch the 'Leg It' video clip here

GANG-fighting and police custody was once a way of life for teenager Eric Phee.

Now, however, thanks to a new project, he has turned his back on years of violence and at the age of just 16 made a film of his experiences.

Eric, from Springburn in Glasgow, took part in a project called On the Move which helped him realise the futility of violence.

Run by experimental learning group Urban Learning Space, the aim was to use film-making to give unemployed youngsters the encouragement to get back into education or employment.

Last year 15 young people aged 16-17 took part in the three-month project – partly funding by Scottish Screen – and more are set to participate this year.

Gwen Mackey, project manager, said making films was an excellent way to develop life and technical skills in young people.

"It can be an especially great way of developing confidence and creating meaningful learning experiences with individuals not currently engaged in formal education," she said.

With other former gang members, Eric helped make three short films on gang and drugs culture: Scatter, Leg it and Mad Wae It.

He said gang violence often escalated as one side constantly wreaked revenge on the other.

"Whoever starts it keeps it going – it is fights for territory." And he revealed that the rivalry often continued down to younger siblings, making the momentum hard to break.

He said: "It is like passing on your PSP (PlayStation portable] to your wee brother – it is just like passing on a T-shirt.

"You see guys of 13 running about stabbing people."

He added: "When you are younger you are all right, you just get taken home to your ma and dad. But if you are 15 you are put in a cell. I was 15 and I got caught and taken in by the police."

Because of his age, Eric was held in a police cell away from his younger friends, and the reality that prison could follow a violent path dawned.

But now, after taking part in the project he is hopeful he can forge a career as a plumber.

Fellow film-maker Jamie Aubrey, 17, from Maryhill, hopes the films will help dissuade others. He said: "We need to stop it, and it shows what happens."

But don't believe that the problem is the behaviour of a small, violent minority.

Craig Frize, 17, from Possil, emphatically declared it is not. "We've all done it," he said.

David Griffiths, screen writer and producer at Strathclyde and Abertay universities, helped the teenagers make their films.

He said: "There is a growing awareness. Making the film forces the teenagers to look at consequences.

"They must ask what could happen in the film? What would be the wrong thing and what is bad about illegal drugs?"

Adam Seddon, the education development manager at Scottish Screen, said: "The young people involved in the project have in many cases had some tough issues to deal with in their life so far, and the quality of the finest films says a lot about how they came together to create something bigger than themselves."

COMMUNITIES SCARRED BY VIOLENCE

GANG-fighting is an almost daily occurrence in some communities, Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan, head of the Violence Reduction Unit, has revealed.

He said: "In some areas, it's been like this for decades and its effects are pervasive.

"The police are cracking down on the problem. But in order to prevent this situation continuing for another four decades, we need to have real attitudinal and societal change – and that will not happen overnight."

According to the Scottish Prison Service, 41 per cent of the prison population in this country has been jailed for serious, non-sexual violence.

Strathclyde Police says the profiles of the typical violent offender and the victim are broadly the same: male, aged 16 to 24.

Statistics from the World Health Organisation show the rate of murders committed with a knife in Scotland is 3.5 times higher than that in England and Wales.

Scotland has a similar homicide rate to Argentina, Costa Rica and Lithuania.