‘Murder of teenage was mindless and exhibits knife crime can strike any household’
Patrick Green, CEO of the Ben Kinsella Trust and member of the Government’s Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime, reacts to the Government’s knife crime announcement
‘The Government is right to act now and provide schools with more support and funding to address knife crime’(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)
The Government’s announcement today on the ‘Safety In and Around Schools Partnership’ is an important and timely step towards its aim of halving knife crime within a decade. For the Ben Kinsella Trust, it reinforces why our work exists and why early prevention must sit at the heart of any credible strategy to keep young people safe.
Our charity is founded in 2008 after the murder of 16-year-old Ben Kinsella. His death was a senseless and avoidable tragedy that devastates his family and shocks the country.
His story shows that knife crime can strike any family, in any community. Our mission is clear and urgent: to stop what happens to the Kinsella family from ever happening to anyone else.
Every day, we work with children at the critical stage of early adolescence, particularly those growing up in communities affected by inequality, exploitation, and serious youth violence.
While knife carrying remains thankfully rare among this age group, fear of knife crime is extremely high. Research from the Youth Endowment Fund shows that 47% of teenagers said the violence or fear of violence has affected them in some way, and one in five young people miss school because they feel unsafe.
Fear alone becomes a powerful barrier to education, aspiration, and opportunity, and is often a misguided reason why some young people feel compelled to carry a knife.
Schools play a uniquely powerful role in keeping young people safe. They understand their communities and hold the trust of young people. When the All Party Parliamentary Group on Knife Crime asks young people in 2019 what they want, they are clear: Schools need to provide better support to young people who are at risk of involvement in crime, those excluded from school need a safe place to go. When teenagers speak, we should listen.
This new Government funding offers a real opportunity. As Ben’s story shows knife crime can happen to anyone, but we must also recognise that harm is heavily concentrated in certain areas.
Supporting schools in these areas to better understand where they can make the greatest difference, and equipping them with evidenced, high quality early intervention programmes, has the potential to transform young lives.
As part of its welcome wider plan to halve knife crime within a decade, the Government is right to act now and provide schools with more support and funding to address knife crime. Our young people deserve nothing less.
Patrick Green is chief executive of the Ben Kinsella Trust and member of the Government’s Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime
