Release a dangerous dog onto the street and prison awaits.
How much more dangerous is a teenager?
The government is to require schools, hospitals and social services to monitor and report young people suspected of involvement with knife crime.
What is required of parents? Who brings these troublesome young people into the world? Who has control and influence over them from the very start? Who has the greatest opportunity to teach them to become responsible citizens?
Had parents, including the absentee ones, always been required to attend court with children in trouble, and at least give an account of their care for their children – and made where possible to make up for their wrong-doing – might we now be less troubled by the horrors of knife crime?