A Tangled Web

MEAT CLEAVERS IN THE CLASS ROOM.



The growth of knife-culture in UK class rooms should give us all pause for thought. Here a Headmaster of a suburban school in south-east England bemoans the fact that that head teachers were scared of making public the fact that a child was excluded for carrying a knife, as it could have disastrous consequences for a school. It could lead to loss of confidence by parents, the withdrawal of pupils and possibly the closure of the school and the end of a head teacher's career. He tells the programme: "I would have no hesitation in pulling the full weight for exclusion. But as a head teacher, you haven't got the authority sufficiently, you have to justify that decision."



Our politically correct culture has reduced the school environment to one in which young thugs defiantly wage terror in the class room by using flick-knives, carving knives and even meat cleavers. But we mustn't pnish the little angels - must we?