Daily Echo - 10 June 2008

Written by Sandra Gidley on Tue 10th Jun 2008

I have a confession to make. I carried a knife as a teenager. I belonged to a gang but as we wore a sensible blue uniform and were collectively called Girl Guides there wasn't a problem. Under today's rules I am not sure whether the sporadic desire to whittle away at a piece of wood constitutes "good reason" to carry a knife but

I do know that I wouldn't let a 14 year old child of mine carry a knife in public.

Gun crime is often talked about but the problem of knife crime is perhaps a more common one. The only problem is that we do not really know the full scale of the problem because doctors in Accident and Emergency Departments have to report gun shot wounds but are under no obligation to report knife wounds.

Yet statistics show that young people are increasingly flouting the law and carrying knives. Indeed, a young man recently came to see me at my surgery and suggested that it was only a matter of time before someone was stabbed in Romsey. I have had personal experience of a knife wielding youngster in my sleepy close but luckily no harm was done with the knife. If things have got to the stage where this is happening in a relatively tranquil market town like Romsey then I can only conclude that, at a more national level, things really have reached crisis point.

Work is being done with 11 year olds to alert them to the danger but we need something more hard hitting and punchy, aimed at older teenagers if the message is going to get across. My personal belief is that graphic images of the consequences are probably needed because few young people think of the potential outcome when they arm themselves with a knife before heading off for a night out. They need to talk about knives before the chance to talk about anything is lost forever.

Some have called for stiffer sentences. Young people believe they are invincible and will not be deterred by the thought of a potential prison sentence. But introduce them to peers who have had narrow escapes, show them the consequences and they may just start to realise that going out with a knife is not a good idea.