If there's a knife in your child's hand, it's in your hands to stop it.

Have a chat with your kids and see what they think about carrying a knife - you may have seen something in the news about knife crime that you could discuss.

This can be a tricky conversation - your child may be scared or unwilling to talk about this. But it is never a bad thing to talk and it's important to be clear that your child does have a choice, even when they think they may not.

Think about raising these points with your child:

By carrying a knife you:

• have a false sense of security;
• could be arming your attacker, increasing the risk of getting stabbed or injured;
• are breaking the law.

Not carrying, and walking away from confrontation:

• is what the vast majority do;
• is the tougher thing to do;
• means you’ll be safer from serious harm and not breaking the law.