Father of murdered Berkshire schoolboy calls for schools to discuss knife crime
Stuart Stephens - whose son Olly was fatally stabbed - wants a national day to talk about knife crime
The father of Olly Stephens wants a national day to discuss knife crime in schools saying it would break the 'stigma' around knife crime.
At the start of a Police knife amnesty campaign he says headteachers often find it hard to talk about knife crime to school children.
His son Olly was stabbed to death close to his home in Reading in 2021.
Since then he and his wife Amanda have been campaigning for greater awareness of knife crime and for more restrictions on harmful social media content often viewed by children.
Amongst the organisations the Stephens family have been working with is the Ben Kinsella Trust - set up after the death of 16-year-old Ben who was stabbed to death in 2008.
Stuart said:
"We're hoping to have a national day when knife crime is talked about in every school on the same day because through the work we've experienced there's a stigma attached to knife crime but if we all talk about it at once the stigma is removed and I believe that would help headteachers approach this topic.
"Kids are picking up knives it's all to do with bravado the whole alpha-male syndrome they don't realise they shank someone and they die it's not only have you killed the victim you've destroyed the family you destroyed their community and you've caused an awful amount of pain to a huge number of people so we're trying to turn that around and give them choices about their actions."
Stuart and Amanda are also supporting the youth charity No:5 which plans to create a youth hub in Reading town centre to give young people a place to go where they can be safe and off the streets.
You can find out about the Ben Kinsella Trust here
And the No:5 Youth charity here