Knife crime expert's key advice to parents as kids 'terrified everyone is carrying a weapon'

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9 hours ago

Birmingham kids are terrified of other young people and carry knives in a misguided fear 'everyone their age is armed', a knife crime expert explained.
Fuelling this idea, in part, is the social media content and music videos these children can be exposed to, desensitising them to violence and stabbings regularly posted online.
Other youths, particularly in deprived areas, may be turning to robberies in a bid to secure money, or a lifestyle they otherwise feel is out of reach, says Natasha Pope.
Read more: Reality of Birmingham knife crime as 'kids kill kids' and children groomed into life of crime with 'trainers and fast cash'
And these problems come amid trust issues with police too, with some youths reluctant to seek help in the event of a confrontation - falsely believing it's better to defend themselves.
For parents, understanding these key issues impacting young people here in 2025 is vital, suggests expert Natasha Pope. She spoke to BirminghamLive as part of our Deep Cuts project - a wider look at the problem of knife crime which you can read in full here.
A mum to two teenage boys herself, she's currently heading-up research into knife crime and serious youth violence - which will later help inform the police approach of the best way forward.
"Young people are very, very scared of other young people, a lot of that's to do with this anticipation that they're going to come to harm directly," says Natasha, who has previously worked with West Midlands Police.
"They do believe that all people their age are carrying knives. So it's fuelling this misconception that: 'Everybody else is carrying so I need to do something to protect and defend myself.'"
Music videos online and social media posts - such as stabbings or youths posing with knives - also fuel the fears everyone is armed. But in reality, research suggests it's more like four per cent of young people carrying weapons.
"If young people are consistently exposed to social media inputs, it can also increase the fear or perception that young people are carrying a knife," she says, "or that there's a very strong likelihood of this perhaps befalling them.
"Again it's a desensitisation as well, not only it's a risk it could be normalising it, but also potentially desensitising them to this. They see what happens online and it almost becomes a script - seeing someone has a knife and thinking 'they could use it against me'.
"It's what they're exposed to, seeing things online, all the discussions they're privy to, all this kind of reinforces that it is a problem, For young people, if we look at music videos, it's what they're involved in and exposed to in their environments." Research shows young people between the ages of 10-14 are more influenced by peers than their own parents. "If they're involved or affiliated with anti social friends then there is that increased risk as well," she went on.
A lack of strong relationships, or trust with police is also perpetuating the problem. She continued: "They don't trust the police to actually be there to support them, first of all if an incident is happening as it's going to take the police time to respond and get to that event.
"Secondly, they have this mindset or thought that if they carry a knife, they're able to defend themselves in the immediate moment."
For under 25s in particular, it's argued they lack this "consequential or long term thought", she adds. Anti-police narratives too, especially during the pandemic, have only exacerbated negativity towards officers.
"They are very reluctant to seek help and when you link that in with youth services, they don't have a youth worker as a middle person to really go to," she says.
For youths in Birmingham the outlook is particularly bleak, with council spending far less per head than the national average. Kids here have just £11 per person, compared with the healthier sum of £34pp across England. - where else has £34?
To top it off, the bankrupt council's spending on young people's services has fallen by 57 per cent in real terms since 2019/20 - dropping from £7.5 million (adjusted for inflation) to £3.2 million in 2024/25.
Our investigation found there were 3,450 knife crime offences in Birmingham last year, the largest proportion of these were Robbery of Personal Property, 35.8% of offences.
"If young people are living in very deprived communities, they may not feel they have another way out," says Natasha, offering a possible explanation for the increase in robberies.
"Or there may not be another way for them to actually obtain these resources or money for example. They will perhaps use these means as a way of achieving that."
Ensure young people have a safe space to share fears
Open up a 'two-way' conversation
Be empathetic
Understand the pressures and challenges for young people
Asked her advice, for speaking to our children around knife crime, she suggests: "It's about having a more empathetic conversation, understanding the pressures and challenges their young person is facing or what they're engaging in, their friendship groups.
"Making sure that young person feels it's a safe space to confide in and share their feelings and concerns.
"It's about opening up the conversation and not making them so overly concerned and worried about how their parents are going to react, as that could deter them from coming forward."
This piece forms part of our Deep Cuts investigation, a three-month investigation into knife crime in the West Midlands, which can be read in full here. BirminghamLive has contacted Birmingham city council for a response on the youth cuts data.