AN incident which saw a teenager enter a Jersey secondary school with a knife has prompted renewed discussions after safety measures within the Island.
Incidents like the one at Haute Vallée last month are fortunately rare in Jersey, and the quick response of teachers who restrained the teenager – who has since pleaded guilty to a string of offences – was praised.
Statistics released following a recent request under the Freedom of Information Law showed that there had been 640 confirmed instances of secondary school students being excluded for making physical threats against fellow pupils in the past five years, with a further 117 exclusions for physical threats made against a teacher. There were also 36 exclusions were found to have resulted from the use, or threat of use, of an offensive weapon or prohibited item.
This has prompted calls to increase education around knife safety, with Martin Cosser, of knife-crime prevention charity Charlie’s Promise, offering to present workshops in Jersey in the JEP’s Saturday Interview.
Education Minister Rob Ward recently told the States Assembly meeting last week that his department was looking into “what possible training might be needed for staff” after a knife incident at Haute Vallée School on 9 February.
Deputy Ward was responding to several questions from Deputy Inna Gardiner on whether additional training is required for teaching staff in light of the incident.
He previously praised the school for its excellent response to the incident, during which the teenager – who cannot be named – was restrained after brandishing a knife in the school’s canteen.
But the episode brings further questions about lockdown procedures, inclusion policies, and the need in Jersey for speakers with ‘lived experience’ of knife violence to the fore.
Chantell Hayles, founder and chief executive of UK youth mentorship and intervention charity Living Without Limit, was stabbed in 2002 at the age of just 16.
“The only reason I lived is because half an hour before getting stabbed, I swapped coats with my best friend,” she told the JEP.
“When I was rushed to hospital, the doctor said the coat that you were wearing saved your life.
“Where [the attacker] stabbed me was behind my heart, and it was a really thick bread knife – but the thickness of the coat that I’d just put on was what the doctor said stopped the knife from penetrating my heart.”
Since her “insane” near-death experience, Chantell has dedicated her energetic, warm-hearted energy to shifting deep-rooted societal views on youth violence.
“I know I’m here for a reason, I believe I’m here to help”, she explained from her headquarters in Walsall.
She said: “I do a lot of work with young people around knife crime, and I find that most of them speak about fear and wanting to protect themselves.
“What I’ve realised now is that it used to be an inner city thing where it was mainly, you know, the gangs and all of that, but it’s getting more and more rural now.”
Chantell added that, in her opinion, young people everywhere are becoming increasingly “desensitised to death.”
The essential premise of Living Without Limit, she told, is to provide “early intervention” and help all relevant stakeholders understand the gravity of knife-carrying.
“It’s about educating parents, educating the schools, educating the professionals, and educating the students so that everyone’s singing from the same hymn sheet.
“[This means] hearing the voice of the child, meeting them, listening to them – because they’re speaking, even if they’re not speaking, they’re communicating in some way or another.”
The charity leader argued for a proactive approach to youth violence and warned against minimising instances of knife-carrying as “rare.”
“I would say that when an incident is described as rare, I feel like it can unintentionally create distance.
“It will make communities in the short-term feel safer, but it’s not preparing them – it starts off rare everywhere, doesn’t it?”
“It’s about getting in there before it escalates,” she pointed out. “Because that’s what happens – it will.”
But lived experience’ workshops and mentorship help people relate to the all-encompassing after-effects of knife violence.
“If I’m coming to you and I’m sharing that I’ve been through that situation, or I used to be in a gang or whatever it is, as a young person you’re more likely to listen because that person’s actually experienced what they’re talking about.
“When you’ve got someone that comes in and they’ve lived it and they’ve breathed it – and they’ve overcome it and they’ve made something of their lives – that really connects with them.
“I really believe that lived experience speakers are the way forward.”
Deputy Catherine Curtis, chair of the Children, Education and Home Affairs Panel, said she “would support lived experience talks coming to Jersey.”
The St Helier Central representative added that she had “raised questions about knives in schools” to ministers this term.
She said she had drafted questions on the same issue for the Children and Young People’s Survey several years ago “after hearing of some young people’s concerns.”
But these questions were “denied” and “not included in that survey,” she stated, adding: “Our intention was to find out if school children were worried about knives in schools, and then to see if we could recommend any policy change.”
Speaking to the JEP, Deputy Rob Ward said that Jersey schools “always welcome guest speakers, [but] it’s just a question of the practicality of when.”
“We always support those things”, he said. “It might be school, it might be youth centres, it might be any of that…we want to broaden that as much as possible.”
The Education Minister added that children “really engage” with guest speakers and that it’s “just about fitting [them] into schools and the curriculum as best possible.”
He pointed out that guest talks already take place in assemblies and PSHE lessons “across all of our schools.”
According to Mark Brindley – founder of a foundation aimed at tackling knife crime and ending youth violence – young people are more worried than ever about their peers carrying knives.
“Perception is the danger here: almost exclusively young people [put the percentage of young people that carry knives] as 60%, 70%, and 80%.”
To help remedy this misperception, Mark devised ‘The James Brindley Full Circle Programme’ – a “holistic, 360-degree” programme named after his son, who was murdered during an unprovoked knife attack in June 2017.
He explained: “The programme tackles the root cause of serious youth violence: it looks at family functioning or family dysfunction, peer pressure, antisocial behaviour, substance misuse, gang culture, violence, child exploitation, and radicalisation.
“We look for the drivers for the behaviour that young people are exhibiting, looking behind the behaviour to what’s making them behave in this way.”
Mark said his offer to bring the programme to schools in Walsall back in 2019 was met with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
“I think there was a lot of defensiveness from schools – they felt if they engaged with something like this it’s like admitting they’ve got a problem, and then the parents would be up in arms.
“There was negativity around actually being proactive and responsible in response to the background of growing knife crime and the normalisation of knife crime throughout the media,” he said.
But the programme gathered momentum when students began filtering back into school after Covid, and has now reached over 11,500 young people.
Mark said the foundation was ideal for intercepting students who might otherwise be expelled for incidents of bad behaviour.
“A lot of our young people feel marginalised and dismissed – [we have] got to change.
“Young people have got to be part of the solution, certainly where that is done there is a massive change around in behaviour or attitude.”
He sought to remind Jersey policymakers that “one life lost to knife crime is too many.
“I don’t think there is any room for complacency: they cannot ignore this, they’ve got to jump on it before young people lose their lives and families lose their lives.”
Former Home Affairs Minister Helen Miles, who is also a member of the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel, agreed that “an early intervention approach can play an important role in reducing risks”.
But she noted that during her tenure a Building a Safer Community Framework was created “which includes an educational programme designed to prevent crime and harmful behaviours by educating young people in schools.
“The States of Jersey Police are partners in this programme,” she added, “and support schools in promoting positive choices.”
Deputy Ward also referred to the Building a Safer Community Framework as an “essential resource” for schools to educate their students.
He also drew attention the “enormous amount” of work “going on in the background” in relation to students who’ve been suspended, excluded or expelled.
“It is a really challenging situation”, he acknowledged. “We try to include all of our children in education in the best way possible, but one size does not fit all.”
