Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Why are so many British kids stabbing each other?

Why are so many British kids stabbing each other?

With children as young as 12 getting stabbed in brutal knife attacks, campaigners and local authorities have installed “bleed control kits” up and down the country.
Placed outside conflict hotspots, such as supermarkets and fast food outlets, the small red cabinets contain publically accessible medical equipment, which can stem the bleeding from catastrophic wounds until an ambulance arrives.

They are a grim indictment of an issue blighting the lives of more and more young people each year.

Knife crime in England and Wales was 9% higher in March 2022 compared to the previous year, and 34% higher than in 2010/11, with police recording around 45,000 offenses, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

That’s nearly 125 a day.

“The vast majority of young people don’t carry knives”, said Patrick Green, CEO of the Ben Kinsella Trust, an anti-knife crime charity. “They know it is wrong.”

“But there are some who we as a society have failed to keep safe and help make better decisions.”

The trust was set up by the family of 16-year-old Ben Kinsella, who petitioned then Prime Minister Gordon Brown to help stop the epidemic of violence around him, but who was later tragically murdered in a knife attack while walking home from a night out with friends in 2008.

A “long list” of things drive knife crime, says Green. “Social exclusion, poverty, deprivation, inequality, racism — a whole number of factors make people vulnerable to being drawn into crime and, ultimately, violence.”

He likened the devastation to a “virus or epidemic”, emphasizing there was not one profile that put someone at risk.

“Once it becomes established, it grows quickly. The sense of fear that stabbings generate creates a situation where young people feel unsafe and sometimes make the wrong decision to carry knives to protect themselves.”

“This, of course, then makes them more vulnerable to being injured,” he added.

Around 4% of young people in England and Wales are estimated to carry a weapon one or more times each year.

The vast majority do so because they feel vulnerable, according to surveys by childrens’ charity Barnardos and others cited by the Home Office.

“There’s a huge lesson here in terms of messages,” Green told Euronews. “Adults and the wider community need to make sure that young people feel safe.”

“But it is a complex issue,” he continued. “The reasons why they carry knives are varied and I think this in itself is one reason why it’s very difficult to tackle.

Though the odd murder “caught the public’s eye” from time to time, Green claimed knife crime was not getting enough attention.

“We’re seeing lives lost every year, but the crisis doesn’t get anything like the publicity or indeed level of response it deserves.”

More than 280 people in England and Wales were killed with a knife or other sharp instrument in the year ending March 2022, leaping 19% compared to the previous period, as per data from ONS.

Fifty-one of those stabbed to death were teenagers. Yet, even when violence is not deadly, it can still have a devastating emotional and psychological impact on victims, scarring them for life.

London has the highest rates of stabbings, though the number of deaths fell last year. Despite making up only 13% of the total population, black Londoners account for 45% of the capital’s knife murder victims, according to the London Assembly.

“One stabbing on our streets is one too many and we are serious about tackling knife crime and youth violence,” said London’s Metropolitan Police in a statement sent to Euronews.

“We are helping young people turn away from a life of crime, focusing our efforts on the most vulnerable children and teenagers at risk of violence.”

“We are putting extra resources into areas that see the most violence to focus on those areas.”

In a decades-long effort, successive governments of both left and right have adopted punitive measures aimed at deterring what is often labeled as “gang violence”.

Possessing a knife carries a maximum penalty of four years imprisonment and an unlimited fine. But, in recent years, the Conservatives have introduced a series of laws increasing police powers to stop and search young people, while introducing “tougher sentences” for offenders.

While recognizing they had an important part to play, Green said policies based on deterrence were not a “silver bullet”, despite being “often portrayed as the ultimate answer”.

“There’s also no discernible evidence that they [stop and search policies] make a significant difference to knife crime, he told Euronews, claiming some communities — such as Black or Asian minorities — were already “over-policed”.

A number of other factors can help tackle knife crime, such as prevention, early intervention and education, besides raising awareness among parents, carers and mentors about what they can do to combat the problem.

“Knife crime is everybody’s responsibility,” said Green. “Of course, police and politicians carry a significant burden but we can all do something about it.”

“We need to find out what concerns young people, intervene early and help them live positive lives and go on to achieve what they set out to achieve.”
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×