Teachers hit out at knife crime responsibility

'Cause needs treating, not just the symptoms'

Teachers in Britain have reacted angrily to government proposals to draw them into the fight against knife crime by making them obliged to report anyone they fear may be at risk or involved, saying the suggestion is unworkable and unreasonable, and that the problem is nothing to do with schools.

Under new plans from the Home Office, professionals such as teachers, nurses and doctors will have a public health duty to raise concerns about young people they think may be involved in serious violence, and they would be held accountable if they failed to do so.

"Neither the blame for nor the solution to violent crime can be laid at the door of schools or frontline hospital staff,"said Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union." It needs real solutions put in place to prevent yet more incidents occurring–solutions that address the causes and not just the symptoms."

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said after years of cuts to policing, the government was simply passing the buck and avoiding responsibility for an issue that it should be dealing with.

"What sort of behavior would they be expected to report and who would they report to?" he said. "Aside from the practical considerations, we have to ask whether it is fair to put the onus on teachers for what is essentially a government failure to put enough police on the streets."

After years of long-term decline, the number of killings using a knife or sharp instrument in the United Kingdom has risen for the last four years in a row, with the figure for the year March 2017-2018–285– being the highest since records began.

Police stop and search powers have been increased, but Prime Minister Theresa May, who has previously been criticized for saying there was no link between cuts to police numbers and a rise in violent crime, said: "We cannot simply arrest ourselves out of this problem."

Home Secretary Sajid Javid backed her, saying "The public health, multi-agency approach has a proven track record and I'm confident that making it a legal duty will help stop this senseless violence and create long-term change."

The Royal College of Nursing has joined teachers' groups in expressing its disagreement with the government's plans, saying an obligation to report suspicious incidents could stop those people who needed treatment from coming forward, because of the fear of being reported.

The newly revived stop and search powers allow police to search anyone in a specified area for a limited period of time, if they think it will prevent violent crime. The rules have also been changed allowing a greater number of police officers to have the power to authorize use of stop and search.

In the past, however, there were claims it was used disproportionately against young black men, and doubts over how effective it was in reducing crime, and some critics have said it is a backward step to re-introduce it.