Weapons in school

In the not too distant future we will have security guards on all school gate's. All children and staff will be subject to being searched. The way things are going I think this would be a good idea to keep everyone safe.

The problem isn't just in schools though, is it?

In my teaching career I probably came across three incidents where knives were brought into school.

They were brought in as a protection against bullies staff had failed to deal with.

Many schools already have security staff and are frequently visited by police.

Rural market towns are no different to inner city ones when it comes to this kind of thing either.

I really don’t recall knives being taken to school by children being such a big thing a few decades ago, knife crime really is increasing. I don’t know what is motivating this but I suppose if bullies boast about having knives, other children might take knives to protect themselves. Or is it down to older children with smart phones being able to access dark web sites, indeed this was highlighted in a recent documentary about children with smart phones. They are now exposed to web sites promoting rape, violence, and suicide. In some young minds this must be suggestible. I could be wrong but I think the numbers of murders now being committed by younger children with knives cannot be ignored any longer.

I remember a time when every school boy, and quite a number of girls always had a pen knife on them, for sharpening pencils, carving initials into desks, and taking stones out of horses hooves.

It would not have occurred to any of us to ever use it as a weapon against a person.