Alarm at weapons in schools
GUNS, knives and knuckle-dusters are among weapons being confiscated from up to four children a day in Britain’s schools.
New figures from 20 of the UK’s police forces show that almost 1,600 weapons have been seized from schools in the past five years.
But the statistics do not include data from the Metropolitan Police, the largest force.
Police gave warnings or reprimands to 263 pupils and brought charges against 168, also confiscating axes, daggers and catapults.
We have strengthened schools’ powers. For the first time, teachers can now search a pupil without consent
Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “We have to take on this problem before it spreads like a cancer. Children can’t learn if they don’t feel safe.”
West Midlands Police, Britain’s second largest force, seized almost 700 weapons – including a machete, an axe and a ball-bearing gun – between 2007 and 2011 from 460 pupils, some as young as nine.
The Department for Education said: “We have strengthened schools’ powers. For the first time, teachers can now search a pupil without consent.”