No parent should have to experience this.
Linda Robson, Birds of a Feather actress, had a sudden and grim introduction to the realities of knife crime. Her son Louis cradled in his arms his best-friend Ben Kinsella as he died after a knife attack. He was 16.
For War on Knives, Linda meets others parents to ask what can be done to stop the violence and banish the specter of knife-crime from our streets. Linda asks difficult questions about how much parents should be held responsible for the actions of their children and whether it’s mums and dads and that need to be targeted in the fight against violent crime. She finds out what difference a parenting order made to one family.
Would compulsory parenting classes help? What about possible eviction from council houses?
Linda told War on Knives, “If you suspect your child of carrying a weapon or carrying a knife you should talk to your child about it and if you can't, if you don't think they are listening to you, then you need to go to the police before something terrible happens.
“Because its the same thing if you carry a packet of cigarettes chances are you'll smoke one, if you've got a bottle of alcohol chances are you'll drink it if you've got a weapon chances are you'll use it.”
Linda never thought that knife crime would be in her life or touch her family. She’s witnessed first-hand the devastation knife crime brings.
What do you think about tougher enforcement for parents?
Do you want to contact a parenting class yourself?
Get in touch at waronknives@sky.com
