worker, gang members can listen in via the child s mobile phone. so, real control over who the child is talking to and what they are saying. but the thing that really surprised me was just how quickly young people can get embroiled in this world of drugs and gangs, as this mum, speaking anonymously, can explain. he was a happy child, on the go, 100 miles power, cheeky chirpy, who went into year 11 and knuckled down. he was then ready to do his exams. until lockdown came in march. and then my whole world fell apart. lockdown, he was supposed to be in, wasn t in, was going out, coming home at all hours, wouldn t answer my calls. he had just been absent from the home, not