Campaigners in the UK want to challenge a “deadly myth” among young people and The Fatal Question, a campaign video by the charity StreetDoctors, is aiding the drive
Furious knife crime campaigners say young people are asking the harrowing question: “Where is a safe place to stab someone?”
Teenagers and young adults believe the use of blades and knives can be justified in some cases, according to charities. These — and the campaigners — now want to challenge this “deadly myth” as figures show there were around 53,000 offences involving a sharp instrument in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025.
These numbers include the murder of 16-year-old Kamari Johnson, who was murdered with a machete in Hayes, west London, in a row over a stolen moped. Nabil Mezali, who was 17 at the time, was jailed for 20 years for the murder.
Kamari’s mum, Katherine Johnson, is leading the campaign for more education around knife crime. She has stressed the use of all sharp instruments is always dangerous, and the belief that it’s possible to stab someone without risking their life is extremely concerning.
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Children are searching online for information about where a safe place to stab someone would be, the research has found. Reacting to this, Ms Johnson said: “You have to think about their mindset. The majority I think are looking because they feel unsafe, they don’t want to harm somebody. We need to educate young people, there’s no safe place to stab, and they need to see how it affects people if they’ve made those choices.
“There’s not one thing that will help stop knife crime, but it’s got to start with education. And helping young people understand their emotions, we have to learn to deal with our emotions differently.
“With guidance, with education, we can make such a big difference, instead of them just being left to deal with it themselves. We keep saying ‘they’re children’, so where’s the help?'”
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Kamari’s story is featured in a campaign video by the charity StreetDoctors, being shown in hundreds of cinemas across the UK, which aims to teach teenagers about the dangers of carrying a weapon. The film, called The Fatal Question, asks a group of children from London to consider which part of the body would be a safe place to stab someone, before revealing that any injury can be deadly.
People behind the film, which was created alongside the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, say young people carry weapons for “a bit of protection”. StreetDoctors chief executive officer Martin Tilbury said: “Unfortunately, a lot of young people carry knives because they feel unsafe.
“They think, as a bit of protection, if they do get into an altercation they might injure somebody in a place of the body where it doesn’t cause harm. What the campaign does is to explain that there is no safe place to stab somebody.”