Never mind about NS, what about tackling knife crime?

Frightening world nowadays. There was a report recently about a child in a primary school recently being found in possession of a knife. What sort of a start in life is that?!
And yesterday a stabbing outside of a McDonald's in the town centre - where no doubt children were witnesses.
The 'problem' family next door have had the police visit previously because one of the teenagers there had been making threats with a knife to a classmate.
It's just everywhere.

I totally agree that knife crime is awful but I don't know how to resolve the issue

NS could also be non-smoking
As to the BBC link - remind me, who was it that said 'Lies - damn lies and statistics!'

keepingquiet

Urmstongran,
National Service.

You tackle knife crime by helping families and young people to have more positive aims through education and investment in family support. Also by improving police and community relations through more targeted policing and higher numbers of police dealing with knife crime.
By stopping the easy purchasing of lethal weapons on-line.
By better MH services intervening earlier and for longer.
Strong. supportive communities like mine don't have the levels of knife crime the media love to focus on.

Absolutely. Add in early education in later Primary Years (5 & 6) and early Secondary years about Gangs and drugs and why they are both so dangerous. Children are young as 7 & 8 on their bikes on busy estates are used to deliver class B & C drugs and by the time they reach 20 some are used secreting drugs inside them. Girls in gangs have a CD particularly poor time and all these young children are “groomed” and “looked after” til they are “trapped” in a way of life no one would wish upon them.

DiamondLily

My four grandchildren, (3 boys and 1 girl) have all been bought up in London, they’re young adults now. Not an inner city area, a leafy suburb.

They have all been threatened with knives on more than one occasion.

So have many of their friends.

Nothing to do with drugs or turf wars. Every time it’s been to take money and phones.🤷‍♀️

Even when the police have been told, and there’s been CCTV, the police are totally disinterested.

Unless someone actually is stabbed, the reports are just filed away.

Until people stop making excuses, and the police start taking action, nothing will change.

And it’s the same countrywide.☹️

Dreadful. However, with Police forces reportedly being told to go easy on arrests as the prison and court system is overflowing, I can't see this getting any better. I have adult children living in a 'leafy' area of London too, and it is a worry

I know what I am suggesting here is not a cure for knife crime, but it might make it harder to kill someone. I read this idea some time ago: we should make it illegal to sell kitchen knives (and other knives to which this could apply) with sharp pointed ends. You can chop vegetables or meat without needing a sharp point.

tattygran14

I want to buy a small vegetable paring knife from Amazon. It can’t be left at the usual place for me to collect, presumably because it’s a knife. I can’t hear the doorbell, so avoid house deliveries. The fact that it takes ten minutes and scissors to prise it out of its armour coated packaging is irrelevant.
Any ideas?

I ordered a Stanley knife from Amazon, and found 2 anxious youngsters delivering it to check I was over 18. Mind you, one might have been in training, I didnt ask.

GrannyGravy13

I have just had a quick Google, there is legislation regarding selling and carrying of knives, it doesn’t appear to be adhered to in many circumstances.

Thats because if the police stop and search, which is probably the only way of finding someone carrying a knife, they get accused of racism or harassing or bullying. Or even worse knifed themselves. Even then if the case goes to Court the perpetrators get lenient sentences if any at all, usually a probation and a telling off.

i don't think it was nicola sturgeon.
i thought someone said it was national service ?

I want to buy a small vegetable paring knife from Amazon. It can’t be left at the usual place for me to collect, presumably because it’s a knife. I can’t hear the doorbell, so avoid house deliveries. The fact that it takes ten minutes and scissors to prise it out of its armour coated packaging is irrelevant.
Any ideas?

But how many times do you hear after another news story that if they brought back National Service this would sort the issue out.

I love Gransnet and reading peoples varying opinions. What really makes me cross is the use of acronyms both recognised ones and peoples own versions, it really spoils my reading and wonder why it is so prevalent on this site, It doesn’t seem to occur elsewhere. Are grans so pushed for time that they can’t type the full word ?
Today the heading of the knife crime topic mentioned NS, not in a context which it was made easy to guess what this referred to and I had no clue . Somebody asked and it’s Nicola Sturgeon but why couldn’t the poster say ?

Drugs, drugs and drugs

This is the problem, JaneJudge, it isn't all country lines related. It involves terrorism, mental illness and has spread to schools where 2 children have been killes in seperate stabbing incidents in schools many miles apart, in both cases simply because they did not fit in and were a bit different.

Only a couple of weeks ago a girl took a knife to school and stabbed 2 teachers and a fellow pupil.

Knife crime is pervasive and stretches across all society.

a 20 year old was murdered (stabbed) by an 18 year old here too over the weekend. It is all county line related. i'm not sure what is or isn't being done about it

A lot of knife crime is unreported because the victims don’t want any involvement with the police.

Growstuff I wrote that phrase ina post on p2 18.38 and it is a classic example of words being taken right out of their context and given a meaning they did not have.

I wrote it in the context of saying that many people do find it simpler and, yes, 'nicer' to package problems and allocate them to small groups, that they can then step away from and say 'nothing to do with me'. Rather than face the fact that the problem is pervasive throughout society and there are no simple solutions. This is the case of knife crime. It isn't a case of being mainly drug related, or limited to a certain community. It is occurring everywhere and any solution must be seen in that context

I have read all NanTuesday's posts since I posted at 18.58 and it is quite clear that she completely misunderstood what I wrote and what I was saying. In the context of which I used that phrase, it was absolutely right and I would use it again.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Quotes a now deleted post.

keepingquiet

Indeed , as a majority of knife crime is hidden away not making headlines now . Perhaps you read online news . Apart from a Sunday paper I favour a news feed along with ( free) online subscriptions .

My four grandchildren, (3 boys and 1 girl) have all been bought up in London, they’re young adults now. Not an inner city area, a leafy suburb.

They have all been threatened with knives on more than one occasion.

So have many of their friends.

Nothing to do with drugs or turf wars. Every time it’s been to take money and phones.🤷‍♀️

Even when the police have been told, and there’s been CCTV, the police are totally disinterested.

Unless someone actually is stabbed, the reports are just filed away.

Until people stop making excuses, and the police start taking action, nothing will change.

And it’s the same countrywide.☹️

NanaTuesday

Maggiemaybe
I didn’t understand the cross posting comment , I thought you meant I had done a cross posting .
Apologies

Ah, I see. No worries.

NanaTuesday

Grow stuff
“It would be nice to think that knifings were limited to black -on black gangs and/or involved drugs”
“NICE “!
Wow

I didn't write that!

You've quoted somebody else.

That foul man in Sydney has a lot to answer for- after his knifing spree in the shopping centre at Bondi there has been a whole spate of knife crime. The policewoman shot and killed him and good for her. I am sure she saved a lot of lives that day.

Maggiemaybe
I didn’t understand the cross posting comment , I thought you meant I had done a cross posting .
Apologies

Grow stuff
“It would be nice to think that knifings were limited to black -on black gangs and/or involved drugs”
“NICE “!
Wow