My friend in Sidmouth told me that one day she found the most vicious looking knife in her son's bag. It wasn't a penknife, heck, loads of lads carried those, but they were for practical purposes, not killing people. This was an evil looking thing...

He looked at her, her gentle, shy lad, told her all the boys had them, and he didn't feel safe without one, because sometimes they threatened each other. She was shocked to the core of her being. I wasn't. I just felt even sadder that so many young people are spending the majority of their young lives in schools where they feel threatened by their fellow pupils. This was Sidmouth College, not some run down, inner city school, but a beautiful looking school, with a fishpond in the front garden, koicarp swimming in it..and a feeling of 'all is well here'....but inside, it was the exact opposite for many children, not ALL, but many.

Frances Lawrence is an incredible woman, David...and one for whom I have much respect. It is so often the case in terrible tragedies that people seek to turn it around, make good come out of bad, and she's done that, and her children are now successful people in their chosen careers it seems, when they could have had a very different future. Well done to her.   

The fact still stands though that headmasters, teachers, didn't used to get murdered by pupils when we were young.


And sorry, my link above didn't go to the correct page.