To think it is naive to think there is no knife crime near us because it is a "nice" area?

[hidinginthenightgarden]

I was speaking to someone today who said they didn't understand why people didn't let their kids (as young as 6/7) play on the streets these days. Our housing estate is new build and huge (800 houses) and like a warren. The main reason my son isn't allowed to play out is that I'd never bloody find him if I needed him to come home early.
I sugested that the current issue with teen behaviour and knife crime may have an effect but he said "no, not around this estate". I was a bit surprised he thought like this and told him so.
An expensive area is no less likely to have teenagers causing trouble and its not a gated community so nothing is stopping people coming into the estate from other areas. There are a few local schools within 10 -15 minutes so kids could come to the estate with friends even if those living on the estate were somehow immune to the problems other areas may have.
Whilst our city is one with a low crime rate and we don't appear to have gangs of youths hanging round the streets, is it naive of them to think it couldn't possible happen on our estate just because it is nice?

It’s naive to think there’s no knife crime, but some areas have little or no knife crime.

Where one of my family members lives is a lovely new suburb (much larger than an estate). Very middle class, two incomes, two cars etc in the norm. It is also one of the worst areas in the town for Anti social behaviour. On a Saturday night, the teens just sit outside Sainsburys (it's that posh it has a Sainsburys!) causing a nuisance or drinking in the park because there is bugger all else for them to do!

I agree, some areas do have no knife crime. I don't think you can assume there is no knife crime just because it is a nice area though.

Fatted we have sainsburys and co-op is being built even closer. There is alos nothing for them to do because it doesn't have frequent bus links into the city.

Since when has Sainsbury's been posh?!

It could happen, but it's rarer. Which is why when a stabbing happens in a nicer area, it gets greater news coverage. So does a white-on-white stabbing. There's been a few were the assailant has been 'posh' and the story has ran, nationally, for days.

If there's a hint of something starting, of course you would keep your children in. There's been so many killed in mistaken identity, circumstances.

Titchy, no idea but we have a waitrose too! I hate sainsburys!

titchy
"Since when has Sainsbury's been posh?!"

It's posher than a fast food, farm foods/heron and even Tesco.

We have two Sainsbury’s, a Waitrose and M&S food (plus some cobbled streets!) but we also still have knife crime here.

In London, there are plenty of supposedly nice or even naice areas that have stabbings.

However, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of stabbers chasing 6yo playing near their houses.

We have very little crime at all, let alone knife crime. North Wiltshire - one of the lowest crime rates in the country.
It's predominantly a white, middle class, relatively affluent county.
Coincidence? I don't think so.

Yes I thought that - we live in a 'naice' area but a teenager was stabbed by his friend last year and the friend got off.

We've also had gangs tramming in and stealing watches and phones. Nowhere is immune.

@JoJoSM2 in London if you live in a nice area you are normally a maximum of 2 miles away from a rough area.

There is no knife crime in our village. It's not naive. It's just the way it is. I think kids should play outside and it wouldn't be a good idea to prevent them doing so because of knife crime unless there is some reason to suspect knife crime.

Central London, Waitrose, Michelin starred restaurants, Sainsbury’s, £1M apartments, all the trappings of overt affluence - yet multiple incidents of street knife crime.

A lot of knife crime isn’t known about, nor reported. You might think there is no knife crime where you are but you don’t know what your emergency services are attending to round the corner.

As far as I am aware, carrying a knife is a crime. Just because no one has been stabbed, doesn't mean knives aren't carried. Alot of stabbings have stemmed from very minor disputes. I don't think it would take much.

I don't think this has got anything to do with the decision to let your 6 or 7 yr old play out in the street - that's got nothing to do with knife crime. As JoJoSM2 said.

However, you are being very naive to think that knife crime is evenly distributed between all areas.
Yes, there are isolated incidents in 'nicer' areas - the ones that hit the headlines - but there are areas where carrying a knife is the norm. There are areas where Gang culture is over-riding. It is a massive issue, and certainly not evenly spread throughout the country - or even evenly spread throughout a City.

Depends what you mean by 'nice' tbh. I let my dc out to play because I live in a nice little village. I'm finding it hard to imagine a city-based 800 house housing estate where I'd feel comfortable letting my dc play out.

BackforGood I don't think it is evenly distrubuted at all. I am saying that it can still occur in a nice area. That just because it doesn't appear to have a gang culture or similar, that doesn't mean there is no knife crime here at all.

We have absolutely no knife crime unless you count using a paring knife for cheese.

Lazylingust it is a fairly quiet estate and semi rural on the outskirts of a very small city. Only 10 minutes from the city centre but you can drive from one side of the city to the other in ten minutes.
It feels very safe but even the postman gets the adresses wrong so how the hell would I find my kid if he wandered off into an area of the estate I was unfamiliar with? He seemed very dismissive and just thought all kids hsould be outside and people are being precious.

Isn’t a “naice new build estate” an oxymoron?

A 6 year old playing on the street would be restricted to your street at the beginning. The radius would increase as he got older and then he could have a mobile for you to call or a watch with an alarm that beeped every x mins so he could check in with an adult at home.

Surely the reason people don't let their 6 year olds play on the street is because children that age have no street sense so are vulnerable to running off, hiding from others and getting injured or getting run over. Those are the risks not being stabbed cos they cross some gang's boundary.