Knife crime play for teenagers

21 March 2011, 06:00

It's hoped the amount of knife crime in the Thames Valley will carry on falling - thanks to a play being shown to hundreds of teenagers from today.

Thames Valley Police and Reading Borough Council have arranged for a dramatic 50-minute play and workshop to all secondary schools in the borough. 

Three of the five of the actors have either been involved in knife crime or have fallen victim to it.

The first is taking place at the John Madejski Academy today.

It's hoped the play will lead to the continued drop of knife-related crimes in the Thames Valley, which have already seen a decrease of 6% over the past year.

PC Dave Thomas, the Reading Safer Schools Officer told Heart:

“These shows are a great way of bringing home the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife and gang related bullying to young people in Reading.

“The play will also explore other important and challenging issues such as racism, and self harming. It has a storyline that I’m sure will focus the minds of those watching and will encourage them to think carefully about actions and consequences.

“The plays are then explored further through workshops.

“Knife crime can have devastating consequences and it is important that we are imaginative in the ways that we pass that message on to young people in the area.”

Figures show between April 2009 and February 2010, 260 knife-related crimes were committed by 13 to 19 year olds across the Thames Valley. By April 2010 to February 2011 this had dropped to 212.