The United States of America and the United Kingdom; allies to enemies, allies again, and now frenemies. The two unions share many parallels: Human Development Index, political struggles, and use of the word “football”. But included in our differences is the violence that occurs within these respective countries; with the U.S. facing mainly issues with guns and the U.K. with knives. These forms of violence affect a mass group of individuals: kids.
Over the past year there have been about 58 school shootings in the U.S. It is a devastating amount given that no child should ever experience a horror such as that. But children all around the world are subjected to devastating events, including those in England. The United States has been under heavy criticism regarding gun violence, part of it coming from the United Kingdom. And yet, the U.K. has significant violence issues of their own.
In the U.K. there has been a sharp increase in knife violence amongst minors. Many attacks occur on kids walking to school; a place that should imply safety. Take, for example, the case of a 15-year-old school girl from Croydon who was stabbed to death on her way to school.
This story is tragic. No person, let alone a child, should have to go through that. She had trust that she was making it to a safe place and that trust was ripped away. It doesn’t matter what country it happens in.
The U.K’s known weapon of choice is the knife, a weapon yielded with intention. One case had the victim being stabbed in the heart. These are crimes that require serious thought, even in the spur of the moment.
In May of this year, a 16-year-old student named Rennel Charles was stabbed in the chest by another teenager. This was while he was coming home from school.
A knife is a portable weapon. It is easy to conceal and not necessarily bulky, making them hard to spot. And now many people in the U.K. are carrying knives, not with the intention to kill or harm someone but rather as a form of protection from the extreme rise in knife crime.
Due to this rise in teen violence there are now new laws in place to enforce stricter and longer punishments on teenage killers, like Ellie’s Law. This law (named after a stabbing victim) allows teen killers to receive a sentence of 27 years. Additionally, many parents and advocates on behalf of reduced violence are continuously pushing for harsher punishments and ultimately for the violence to stop.
The U.S. has many issues, including gun violence that bleeds into school shootings, but that does not make it okay for people of other nations to mock and ridicule the country for those conflicts, especially when those nations have similar problems of their own. This violence is unacceptable no matter what weapon it used. As people we need to support and advocate for each other, not jump down each other’s throats.
