Should metal detectors be installed in schools - fatal stabbing in Sheffield

31 replies

IdaGlossop · 03/02/2025 18:20

Today, a 15-year old was fatally stabbed with a knife by a fellow pupil at a Sheffield secondary school. The perpetrator is being held in custody having been charged with murder. Inevitably, the cry has begun, again, for secondary schools to install metal detectors.

I think on balance they should be installed. While they are a constant and visible reminder of the possibility of schools being very dangerous places, they also have a role in helping keep young people and staff safe.

OP posts:

Shubbypubby · 03/02/2025 20:32

Who would search underage girls when it sounds for their bra? work somewhere we have metal detectors and it goes off about half the time a woman goes through so we have to have a rub down/be wanded. Loads of innocuous things also set it off- metal on shoes/trousers/hair clips/piercings etc. It would take hours for hundreds of school kids to get into school.

Tittat50 · 03/02/2025 20:34

ThanksItHasPockets · 03/02/2025 18:27

They would be nothing more than a sticking plaster and a visible sop to the people who want to see Something Done.

We need proper investment in community policing, youth services, and CAMHS, not further pressure on schools to act as every public service all at once.

This is so spot on.

But they can't or won't invest in this so they go to ridiculous proposals to cover this fact up.

Shubbypubby · 03/02/2025 20:36

And we have clear bags which get searched. Dog patrol teams are shared regionally and a really expensive resource.

SummerFeverVenice · 03/02/2025 20:37

They have been putting metal detectors and police in US schools for years. It lowered the shootings, but did not stop the stabbings. Why? Because you can get knives made from plastic, obsidian, flint, ceramics, carbon fibre, etc…

So I put YABU because it will only stop stabbings in school for a few months, and none of the stabbings that usually happen on the way to/from school in the street.

soupyspoon · 03/02/2025 20:39

Leafy74 · 03/02/2025 19:31

It's likely that this child should have been expelled long ago. But the government don't like this, so here we are.

Remember, all behaviour is communication!

Yes, sick of seeing that phrase.

RealHousewivesOfTaunton · 03/02/2025 21:33

It's horrifying that another child has died because of knife violence in schools. I don't think metal detectors are the answer. Support services are severely overstretched or have disappeared altogether due to budget cuts. In my local authority, the educational psychologist team disappeared over COVID and the PRU isn't accepting any more pupils. Sort that out and it will go a long way to reducing the number of disaffected, violent children in schools.

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