The stabbing was rare and tragic, say head teachers

Following the fatal stabbing of 14-year-old Luke Warmsley in Lincolnshire, head teachers are reviewing security at their schools.

Children's charity Kidscape says more children are bringing weapons to school.

But they and head teachers say calls for children to be searched with metal detectors on their way into school should be resisted.

Macho

Michelle Elliott of Kidscape said the charity was receiving more and more calls from parents who say their children are taking weapons to school.

"There is more of a tendency (to violence) than there was years ago," she told the Today programme on BBC Radio Four.

"We have seen an increase in incidents of children bringing knives to school for their protection or to be tough or macho.

"Children are seeing a lot of violence around them and they feel that bullies will leave them alone if they have a knife on them."

Teachers are concerned at what they see is an increase in weapon-carrying among some pupils.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers is calling on the government to review security policies in schools.

Debate about whether there are more weapons in school

Chris Keates, of NASUWT said: "This is an horrific event. It is a tragic example of how the increasing use of weapons in crime on the streets is spilling over into the once relative calm and security of schools.

"There is an increasing tendency for a minority of young men to carry knives and guns.

"Pupils and teachers in schools are, therefore, vulnerable as potential victims of crimes which would once have been confined to the streets.

"This tragedy demonstrates again that violent incidents are not confined to urban areas. "

The Department for Education and Skills said it would give "careful consideration" to the union's calls for a review of security in schools.

But general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), David Hart, does not believe the problem of security in schools is getting worse.

We shouldn't over-react to one incident Michelle Elliott, Kidscape

"It's certainly not getting worse," he said.

"Ever since the Dunblane tragedy an enormous amount of time effort and money has been spent on improving school security but that is in relation to dealing with intruders.

"We are not in the business of locking students out of school. Once they are in school it becomes more difficult to police those students.

"Clearly we will get from time to time, mercifully rarely, these tragedies.

"It's not an issue of security but of trying to make sure that we do crack down on violence and bad behaviour and that head teachers are supported when they try to do this."

American experience

There is widespread opposition to the idea of searching children with metal detectors on their way into school, as happens in some schools in the United States.

"We shouldn't over-react to one incident," said Michelle Elliott of Kidscape.

"I would hate to see schools turned into battle grounds. At most US schools - even in small rural communities, children are searched and go through metal detectors.

"This is a much saner society."

The Department for Education and Skills says there is no centralised record keeping on violent incidents in school, but the local government association, which represents local councils, estimates there is about one fatal incident a year.

My decision about my son is not unrelated to gun culture Diane Abbott, MP

Some schools are teaming up with the police to tackle problems of violence and bad behaviour.

Police officers are stationed in scores of city schools in England in a drive against youth crime.

MP Diane Abbott, who has been criticised for not sending her son to a state secondary school in her home area of Hackney, says the issue of gun culture was a factor in her decision.

She told the Today programme on BBC Radio Four: "My decision about my son is not unrelated to gun culture and what is happening to black boys in inner cities."