The chief executive of a knife crime charity said he now tells parents to check their Amazon deliveries as weapons such as zombie knives are now easily available online.
In an exclusive interview, Patrick Green of The Ben Kinsella Trust, a charity which educates teenagers about the tragic consequences of knife crime, told The Argus how their response to tackling knife crime has changed in recent years.
He said: “Ten years ago I was talking to parents about checking their kitchen drawers. Now, I am telling them to check their Amazon deliveries.”
Mr Green stressed the power of social media and its algorithms which can show children knives.
“We need to get the power of social media and its algorithms across to parents.
“Because of my research, my Instagram is full of knives, flick knives and zombie knives.
“Young people’s online feeds can be full of knives. People are desensitised to it and the act of carrying a knife is glamourised.”
This article is part of our Cut Knife Crime campaign.
Our mission is to reduce knife crime and the number of people being injured and killed in stabbings through:
- Increasing the use of knife amnesty bins.
- Educating young people about knife crime and making them aware of the effects it has on not just the victim, but those around them
- Having more bleed control kits in pubs, shops and businesses
The Ben Kinsella Trust strongly supports the Online Safety Bill which was made law on October 26 this year.
The bill is supposed to address illegal and harmful content online, impose legal requirements on search engines and reduce children and young people’s exposure to harmful content online.
As part of this, The Ben Kinsella Trust has worked with the family of Olly Stephens, a 13-year-old from Berkshire who was murdered in January 2021.
Last January, Amanda and Stuart Stephens watched their son from separate windows as he left home, not realising it would be the last time. Olly wandered over to a field opposite their house with his phone in his hand.
Fifteen minutes later, he had been murdered by two teenage boys.
Olly’s mum Amanda told the Ben Kinsella Trust: “We miss Olly every minute, of every day, to know that he was lured out and ambushed following an agreed online plan, with other children present to watch, will haunt us for the rest of our lives. When I think of Olly, he is smiling at us, doing a little dance, and ready to give us a big hug. We feel broken hearted and wish that his life could have turned out differently.”
Mr Green said: “Social media can be like the wild west. Often, there is little to no regulation of the content your child is seeing online.”
On tackling knife crime, Mr Green pointed to the fact that everyone can help make a difference.
“We all have a part to play,” said Mr Green.
“That’s the message we want to keep giving. We can all do something.
“It starts with talking to a child in your care, and checking in with them.
“Young people who don’t feel safe in their community are three times more likely to carry a knife.”
“The more you speak to your children, the more you know what is and is not normal and the signs to look out for.”
Mr Green is supporting The Argus's Cut Knife Crime campaign.
If you can host a bleed control pack in your business or support our campaign in any way contact campaigns@theargus.co.uk.
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