ACT - The Association of Christian Teachers

Stabbings.

What's it like to teach in an area where many young people carry knives and have seen the victims of stabbings? Teachers describe their first-hand views of the knife culture among some young people in London.

"It's not a shock anymore. It's not a surprise anymore," says Angela.

"If something happens in the area, you hope it's not somebody you've taught."

She has been a teacher for 28 years and is currently a head of department at a secondary school in south London.

Last year, a former pupil was stabbed to death.

They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The killers included another former pupil, who still had a younger sibling at the school.

"I taught them. I knew them," says Angela.

"It's the worst feeling. It's horrible. They're not the typical cliché kids you know, in a hoody, wearing a mask.

"They're the same students I taught. Got their GCSEs," she points out.

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