Yvonne spent the afternoon with the Parental Forum today helping parents with tips on keeping their children safe.
Some of the tips she shared included:
Parents and carers can play an important role in stopping knife crime becoming a part of their child’s life. Understanding the law, talking to your child about the dangers and looking out for changes in their behaviour can help keep them safe.
Before talking to your child about knives, you need to know the facts:
- it is illegal for anyone to carry a knife if they plan to use it as a weapon – even in self defence
- police can search anyone they suspect of carrying a knife
- carrying a knife could mean being arrested, going to court and getting a criminal record, or even a prison sentence
It is a criminal offence to have a knife or other weapon on school premises. If a knife or other weapon is found on a pupil, the police will be called and it is likely the pupil will be arrested.
The best way to stop your child getting involved with knives is to talk to them about the dangers. This may not be easy as they may not want to talk about it, but keep trying as this is the first step to keeping your child safe.
You should remind them that by carrying a knife they are:
- giving themselves a false sense of security
- potentially arming an attacker, increasing the risk of getting stabbed or injured
- breaking the law
Sometimes there might be obvious reasons for you to think your child is carrying a knife – such as a knife going missing from the kitchen.
However, there are other more subtle signs that you and the parents of your child’s friends can look out for such as:
- school’s not going well or they don’t want to go in to school at all
- They are being secretive
- they’ve been a recent victim of theft/bullying/mugging
- a different network of friends who may be older than your child
