Stickers have been playing a central role in a new safety campaign being tested in London, the BBC has revealed.
The idea behind the project is for so-called safe havens to advertise themselves to young people by having stickers outside their shop or other publicly served building.
It is now hoped that this custom sticker scheme will help young people escape from potential confrontations with other youths wielding guns or knives. All they need to do when trying to escape from bullies or any other threat is keep an eye out for these stickers that advertise certain businesses as safe havens.
At present, almost 200 shops, cafes and other businesses have signed up to this CitySafe scheme by advertising their premises with custom stickers.
And so far the project has received a lot of support from those who agree with Prime Minister David Cameron's idea for a "big society" which sees individual communities taking responsibilities for their own problems.
The group behind CitySafe is the London Citizens community group and their main spokesman Barry Mizen, who has been spurred on in his campaign to make the streets safer following the murder of his son, Jimmy in 2008.
Speaking to the BBC, he suggested that it is up to people and individuals in the community to help make the streets safer for young people.
He said: "Safety won't come from government legislation, the police can't always be there. We have to build up the community. Its strong communities that are more likely to be self-regulating."
Mr Mizen has also revealed that there are currently similar plans for projects up and down the country with the hope of using places such as railway stations as safe havens for young people. He has also told the BBC that the scheme has received a lot of backing from local primary and secondary schools where teachers are trying to educate children about keeping themselves safe.