Be kind, be safe, be honest.
Hands are for writing and drawing only.
Inside voices in class.
Keep our class room tidy.
Listen when some one else is talking.
These are the simple rules suggested for a new Infant class of 4 year olds.
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With the the start of a new school year, lots of teachers will be stating class room rules with their new pupils. I always found the best way was for the children to make up their own rules.
They were a lot more restrictive than I would have made.. and with talking them through with the children, they'd be whittled down to the 5 suggested for very young children. And on the whole the children kept to them, with one or two exceptions.
In fact I'd say that first basic rule suggested for very young children encompassed them all..
Be kind, be safe, be honest.
So what happens to these children as they grow older to make them want to carry knives? And then unfortunately can be involved in a knife crime, perhaps stabbing someone or being stabbed?
12,786 recorded knife crimes were recorded in London since 2019/2020. There were 21 violent deaths, of which 18 were stabbings!
What causes a child to grow up wanting to carry a knife or sharp instrument?
Often as a senior teacher or Deputy I was confronted by children usually boys who were fighting in the playground. Why or what caused them to resort to fighting? Well in my time of teaching it wasn't racial.. some reasons given were, he looked at me, emotional and verbal abuse, isolating, name calling, bullying, rumour mongering, and punishing another child. I taught mainly 11 year olds, I retired in 2006.
No knives were involved, but these days young people carry knives as young as 12.
What happened to these young persons? There weren't many in my class that weren't lovely. A lot of the children were from the poorer areas of Essex, but lovely families and proud parents who wanted the very best for their children. And I'm sure a lot of todays crimes are committed by persons, who had good school days.. some of course not..Reasons today are racial or hatred of immigrants as well as gang warfare and drugs.
I hate to think any child that was in a school where I taught, has been involved with knife crime, its a horrible thought.
But I think there will be teachers, who have taught persons involved with knife crime, how do you cope with that? I don't know.
Chrisxx
7 comments:
I always think about teachers the night before school starts every year. I am so thankful to be finished that work though I enjoyed it for most of the years I taught.
It's hard to tell what makes someone take up knives, guns, etc., with the intention of harming another. But, whatever it is, it is sad.
I think your comment about parents wanting the best for their children is perhaps part of the answer. Some parents can barely take care of themselves, let alone rear a child with love, compassion and encouragement to do their best. There are a lot of little lost souls out there who, in other circumstances, could flourish and grow into responsible adults. The knife part is incomprehensible to me too, but whenever any knife carrying youth is interviewed on tv they always say is is for protection. We live in worrying times.
Young people carry knives because they fear being attacked and so have a defensive weapon readily to hand. It's a sad state of affairs.
I think the key to it all is in Tracy's comment.
My niece was a teacher before retirement and she was stabbed by a student. I don't remember how old he was but not a teenager yet. Knives are not so common in the schools around here because so many of them in recent years have metal detectors at the doors. Very sad to have to live like that.
I trained in an inner city school in Charleston, WV, with kids who were 12-15 years old, and most were black. Some of them were pretty rough, coming from bad neighborhoods. One boy who was really very bright, got expelled for bringing a knife to school. Kinda broke my heart, as it seemed like he was really making progress. I loved these kids, and during my time with them we really did make great strides. But their path was going to be hard and I often wonder about them and how they turned out.
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