A spokesperson for Plaid Cymru’s education party has voiced their opinion that it wasn’t the responsibility of the father of a 14-year-old girl, convicted of attempted murder, to check her school bag for knives. This claim comes following the girl’s attack on three people with her father’s multi-tool knife in a school in Carmarthenshire back in April of last year. Newly-elected member of the Welsh Parliament, Cefin Campbell, is calling for the implementation of better communication between social services and school leaders and suggests that schools should consider searching pupils and hiring security guards.
According to Mr Campbell, an unnamed member of faculty at the school was forced to help subdue the girl during the attack in concern. He believes that it is not fair for the father of the girl to bear the blame for the attack. Campbell stated that employing specialists in social welfare positions, such as additional mental health professionals, should be considered in order to recognise troubled individuals before they become violent.
Despite security crackdowns on incidents of knife crime in schools, acts of violence against teachers have seen a rise since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Campbell warns of the potential repercussions of having teachers behaving as both educators and security guards and believes that searching pupils should be done instead. However, the Welsh parliamentarian fears confrontations may arise from this solution and has suggested that schools consider hiring specialist security teams as a more strategic option.
The girl was found guilty of the attempted murder of teachers Fiona Elias and Liz Hopkin, and a student at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman. After the incident, all three required medical attention. Her attempted murder charge comes after bringing the multi-tool knife to her school daily. Possible use of “reasonable force” to search for weapons may be considered without the consent of pupils under existing Welsh government legislation
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