Knife Crime Awareness

About this course.

Knife crime is one of the most serious risks facing young people today, and the harm it causes ripples far beyond the individuals directly involved. Behind every headline is a child or young person who has been hurt, frightened, exploited or lost — and, very often, a series of missed opportunities where a trusted adult could have noticed, listened and acted. This course is written for the people in the best position to make a difference: teachers, youth workers, social-care practitioners and frontline staff who see young people day in, day out. It treats knife crime not as a problem of bad children to be punished, but as a safeguarding and public-health issue that we can help prevent.

The course covers the scale and human cost, the law at an awareness level, the public-health approach, contextual safeguarding, the Serious Violence Duty, the reasons young people carry knives — fear, peer pressure, exploitation and county lines — wider risk factors, warning signs in behaviour and wellbeing, how to have a supportive conversation, and your responsibilities for recording, referring and sharing information to keep young people safe.