Teesside campaigner calls for knife crime to be put on school curriculum
Theresa Cave is re-iterating her message for schoolchildren to learn about the topic
Last updated 1st May 2025
A Teesside anti-knife crime campaigner is re-iterating her calls for the topic to be put onto the school curriculum.
It is after a 15 year-old boy was stabbed to death at his school in Sheffield earlier this week.
Theresa Cave has dedicated her life preventing and deterring young people from carrying a knife since her own son died in 2003 in Redcar.
She is the chief executive and founder of The Chris Cave Foundationand she said: "The family will be going through denial, heartache, loss, they'll feel empty, bewildered and they'll feel angry and very, very hurt right now. They won't be at a stage of understanding anything right now and it's going to take them a long time to be able to come to terms with what's happened but at the moment the'yre going to be feeling very, very empty.
"Just remember that could be your child because knife crime isn't fussy who it goes to. It takes the best from the rest. It doesn't matter who you are or what background you come from. You don't deserve to die by a knife.
"Knife crime needs to be put on the curriculum. I said this going back 20 years ago. Please put it on the curriculum when doors were getting slammed in my face and nobody would let me in and then suddenly, they changed from the LEA to academies and the academies started welcoming me in. It's still got that stigma.
"It's a stigma they've got that they're going to be titled as having a knife crime problem or the programme's going to shock our children. I'm sorry, but the programme is there to shock children. They need to see these stab wounds and how to handle these stab wounds because the proof is in the pudding; it's just happened in a school in broad daylight surrounded by children and teachers and I doubt any of them would have had a clue what to do.
"This is why the programmes are out there and until they accept these programmes and let us in and stop being safeguarding and saying 'oh, we can't show that', yes you can show that because if they're carrying a knife and they're going to stick that knife into another human being, then they're old enough to know and to see this programme and the pictures that go with it."
Back in September, the Government launched a new coalition to tackle knife crime and half knife crime within 10 years.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "As Director of Public Prosecutions, I saw first-hand the devastating impact that knife crime has on young people and their families. This is a national crisis that we will tackle head on.
"We will take this moment to come together as a country – politicians, families of victims, young people themselves, community leaders and tech companies - to halve knife crime and take back our streets."
Theresa Cave added: "My direct message to Keir Starmer would be: How on earth do you intend to half knife crime within 10 years when you haven't got a clue which way you're looking at it already. If you can throw in jail rioters within two weeks of them committing a crime then you can do the same to these prolific knife carriers. If they're re-offending with those knives then they must be made an examples of then others will follow. They won't carry as much."
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "We will not sit back while precious lives are being lost and young people’s futures destroyed. That is why we are making it a mission for the country to halve knife crime in a decade.
"Getting weapons off our streets and making sure there are tough and clear consequences for violence are vital. And we also need to prevent young people heading down this path - that means offering young people more hope, more opportunities.
"This coalition is crucial - bringing together those who have fought so passionately for change and who know how devastating knife crime can be and why we need action now."
Commander Stephen Clayman, National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for knife crime, said: "Knife crime continues to blight the lives of individuals, families and whole communities and despite so much brilliant work ongoing around the country, policing cannot solve this problem alone. Knives are far too easily accessible, with online sellers being a key focus of our work over the last year. I look forward to leading the review into online supply and continuing to work in close partnership with government, retailers and the third sector to find ways we can bring meaningful, long-term change that will make our streets safer for everyone."