Should parents be held more accountable to tackle teenage knife crime?

[Gotthatbigpenergy]

Hi all,

I wanted to share an idea I’ve been thinking about to help tackle teenage knife crime, and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

In the US, there have been recent cases where parents were charged after their children committed school shootings because they failed to lock up their guns properly. This got me thinking about whether we should adopt a similar approach here in the UK when it comes to knife crime.

My suggestion is this: for children under 16, parents should be held responsible for ensuring their kids don’t have unsupervised access to knives. If a child leaves the house, parents should make sure all knives are secured—whether that means reducing the number of knives in the home or locking sharp knives away in a safe box.

Parents need to take responsibility for the children they are raising and the environments they are creating at home. By implementing stricter rules around knife access, we might reduce the risk of these weapons ending up in the wrong hands.

Of course, this shouldn’t just be about punishment or blame. The government should also step in by increasing funding for early intervention services for families, so parents and teachers can get help if they feel they’re losing control of a child. We need to tackle this issue at its root by supporting struggling families and identifying warning signs early.

https://apnews.com/article/james-crumbley-jennifer-crumbley-oxford-school-shooting-e5888f615c76c3b26153c34dc36d5436

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9wj0vyl8xko.amp

Ridiculous idea….

How many teenagers have you had?

I have 2.

The point with the US charges is it is the parent's weapon and they have not locked it away. You even said that in your OP.

Really we need to prevent knife crime, rather than just punish more people afterwards.

I work in criminal justice, young people aren't using their mum's kitchen knife to stab people. Hth

Which lock box are you currently using for knives in your home?

Adults would be selling children knives, groomed children would be able to obtain knives. It’s not the same as guns - they should def be locked away.

i have four teens. They need to learn to cook, put things away. Due to self harm, we have gone through a period of locking sharps - it is extremely difficult. And if not knives, there will be something in its place.

Address the root cause - poverty, grooming, mental health concerns.

Did you lock away the kitchen knives and scissors in your home?

This issue is very personal to me as I have two sons, aged 14 and 15. I live in an area that locals refer to as "Gotham City" due to the high levels of crime. Just recently, someone was shot down the road, and knife crime is a constant concern here.

No, I don’t currently check my knives, but if it became a requirement, I would absolutely do it. I also don’t let my children go out without a clear reason. When I was growing up, I had the freedom to come and go as I pleased, but I’m not raising my sons that way. I firmly believe that parents need to take responsibility for their children.

I always know where my sons are when they leave the house—whether it’s the cinema, the park, the shops, or a friend’s house. We stay in regular contact throughout the day. But I know not all parents are doing this.

Too often, when tragedies happen, we hear the same excuses about kids falling into gangs or the "wrong crowd." How does that happen? Why are some parents allowing their children to roam without supervision or purpose? I think it’s time we start asking tougher questions and holding ourselves accountable.

In the cases in the US, Ethan Crumbley for example, the parents had provided the weapon. The Crumblys bought their son the gun for a present, lying to staff at the store when they did so. Jennifer Crumbly took her son shooter as a hobby.

Then they did other things that were neglectful. Ignoring delusions and not taking the advice of the school counsellor and then not removing him on the day.

So you currently have no idea if your children, who live in an area where carrying a knife is fairly common, are carrying knives?

In the US case you cite, didn’t the parents actually buy the firearm for their DC?

UK already has considerably stricter gun control than the US

Some types of knives are already banned, and a parent supplying one of those to their DC is likely to face charges.

But it’s wholly unrealistic to expect every home to have the equivalent of a gun safe for their kitchen knives and scissors

Gangs target vulnerable young people. Your children are not vulnerable. Not all families have parents who are able to care for them, provide money, support etc. inadequate mental health support means many people can’t parent as perhaps they would like, or two parents need to work in the evenings. A multitude of reasons.

I have two sharp knives in the house, that I can see when I glance in the kitchen. A pairing knife and one big knife.

So why don’t you check their location every time your children ask to leave the house? Why don’t you lock them away so they can’t be taken during the night? How often do you search their bedrooms for knives they have brought into the home?

The reason the kids are using knives is probably BECAUSE of their parentage. Not a prayer there.

I have about 5 knives, countless pairs of scissors, blades for razors for shaving, sharpeners, lots of mirrors that can be broken for a sharp edge.

while we are at it, we would have to ban anything that would be a potential weapon. Impossible. The root causes of young people carrying knives needs to be the focus.

Poverty is the key…

I don’t agree with the body of your post though I agree with the title only. The boy (Kelyan Bokassa) who was stabbed on a bus recently, his mum said he was groomed by gangs since the age of 6. Sorry but what kind of shitty childhood did he have, that 3rd parties had access to him to be able to groom him? She herself should have done more to intervene and prevent him from wielding machetes at 14.

i could be wrong be I would imagine some if not most of the knives used in crime are not from their mums kitchen drawer, thinking of zombie knives and those they have bought and hid in their rooms. Therefore even locking knives away makes no difference

As someone has already said. Knife crime is usually zombie knives, machetes etc rarely a kitchen knife. They are purchased online and rarely kept in the home usually hidden in bushes, bin sheds etc. locking up kitchen knives won’t stop this. Community groups work with police to do weapon sweeps but the more known these are the more things are moved. Unfortunately it’s not as simple as locking up kitchen knives. The only knife crime I’ve seen kitchen knives used in is domestic crime

I worked in young offenders for a short time, none of the kids there bar one small group of lads had parents that weren't criminals themselves in some capacity.

We should do all what you suggest and lots of parents are, there are just parents that are also high as a fucking kite supplying their kids with drugs and getting them and their mates to sell them as well. They don't care.

Poverty, lack of education, generational unemployment, drug abuse and addiction, these are the reasons why

The boy who was so awfully killed in Woolwich last week had been groomed by gangs since primary school, according to his mother. She was begging for more support from the authorities to keep him away from gangs, but it was insufficient. He was due in court shortly over accusations of carrying a machete. Do you think his Mum had been using that to chop the onions, and he just sneaked it out from the kitchen drawer?

It’s not kitchen knives and scissors typically used in knife crime. It’s zombie knives procured illegally. They’re badges of honour. The bigger the better. Locking up kitchen knives and scissors will have 0 impact.

I agree with the PP who said we need to be preventing knife crime, not dealing with it after the fact. The sociological issues that lead to it are what needs to be dealt with. How will pointing the finger at a parent who forgot to take their bread knife off of the draining board when their son had a zombie knife hidden in his trousers going to deal with that?

The most recent incident involved an organised crime gang. How can parents act against these groups who will do sbsolutely anything and murder anyone who goes to the police or gets in the way?

That's because you are a responsible parent with boudaries - that's often lacking in these kids homes.

Thankfully, this sort of crime is pretty rare in my area, but there was an incident a few years ago with a fatal stabbing of a mid teen very early hours of the morning. At first, the news was full of the parents and friends saying how this was a shock, the child was 'well liked', a 'good boy', somewhere along the line a parent or step parent refered to him as a 'loveable rogue'...read into that what you will. Anyway, the trial revealed that this 'good boy' and 'loveable rogue' went out with mates, armed and looking for a fight with strangers. They picked on a group of lads, one of which got hold of the knife and stabbed this little scrote with his own knife in self defence. The press went very quiet after that.

My point is that dog shit parents are completely deluded about their feral children.