Weapon possession on the rise among young people: Youth workers

Weapon possession among young people is on the rise, not only in the four big cities but also in other parts of the country. Though it is not the case that every young person carries a knife, said Bianca Boender. She is the chairman of the professional association for child- and youth workers (BVjong) and herself a youth worker in Zuid-Holland.

A 14-year-old boy was stabbed at his school in Hoorn last week. He died of his injuries on Sunday. The police arrested a 16-year-old boy.

It is difficult to determine whether there is more knife violence among young people than in the past, but the fatal stabbing in Hoorn is not an isolated incident. In Amsterdam last week, a 19-year-old was stabbed in the hand. A 16-year-old was stabbed in Rotterdam. In Dordrecht, a 19-year-old was stabbed in the face; two boys, 16 and 17, are the suspected perpetrators.

According to police reports, there have been over 50 stabbings with teenagers as suspected perpetrators since the beginning of this year. The youngest suspect was 13 at the time of arrest. He allegedly stabbed a schoolmate in Rotterdam. Nine people have died in these stabbings. Except for the boy in Hoorn, teenagers are suspected of fatal stabbings in Middelburg, Amsterdam, Horst, Rosmalen, Breda, Vlaardingen, Vlissingen, and Nijmegen. In the entire 2020, the police recorded nearly 50 stabbings involving teenagers, three of which were fatal.

According to Boender, “from Urk to Rotterdam, it’s not a daily occurrence that someone is stabbed. Not every young person who has a weapon uses it. But since 2019, you can see that weapon ownership among young people has increased, that there are stabbing incidents, and that extreme violence is growing. But we can’t say that all young people have weapons with them or are afraid of being stabbed.”

Young people carry knives or other weapons for various reasons, ranging from feeling unsafe to peer pressure. “Young people are looking for their identity. They look at others, and they are impressionable. Positive role models have a positive influence. If you are in a group of friends where it is customary that you carry a knife, you can be sucked into that culture and into a spiral of fear and violence.”