Toys highlight childhood blighted by knives

A campaign featuring hard-hitting images of toys with horrific stab wounds has been launched to highlight the shocking reality of primary school children carrying knives.

Photographs of a teddy bear with multiple slash marks, plus a rubber duck and a doll with facial injuries, have been created to raise national awareness about how children aged 10 and under are arming themselves.

The initiative by Simmply Active is aimed at parents who might think their very young children are immune to the knife crime epidemic. It seeks to encourage frank conversations and early interventions.

Simmply Active, a community organisation focussed on mentoring, physical activity and wellbeing, was founded by former teacher David Simmons.

He was confronted in a school playground in 2017 by a six-year-old brandishing a knife and threatening to stab him.

While usually a problem associated with teenagers, around one in ten knife incidents in schools involve primary-aged pupils, according to the Safeguarding and Child Protection Association (SACPA).

It said 1,304 knife-related incidents were recorded in schools and colleges across England and Wales in 2024.

The age of criminal responsibility is 10 years, so the issue is one of safeguarding and prevention rather than punishment.

Professionals working with children believe the rise is due to online content, gaming, social media and pressure from older peers.

The latest figures from the Youth Justice Board (YJB), published last year, show the vast majority (99.7%) of knife or offensive weapon offences committed by children were of possession rather than use.

In the year ending March 2024, there were just over 3,200 knife or offensive weapon offences committed by children aged 10-17 resulting in a caution or sentence.

This was slightly less than the previous year but 20% higher than 10 years ago, according to the YJB.

With the stark headline: ‘KIDS CAN LEARN TO PICK UP KNIVES YOUNGER THAN YOU THINK’, the images will be unveiled outside Parliament on Monday and will appear throughout August across donated out-of-home sites and digital advertising vans.

Mr Simmons said: “Most people associate knife carrying with teenagers, but our experience shows that some children are being exposed to these influences much earlier.

“This campaign is about encouraging awareness and starting conversations before problems escalate. If parents feel more informed and more confident about spotting concerns early, we have achieved what we set out to do.”

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