EDUCATION and social media monitoring could be vital in preventing knife crime in Dorset, a campaigner believes.

Bournemouth Echo has launched the ‘No More Knives’ campaign in a bid to prevent further criminal activity in Dorset.

The campaign aims to bring organisations together to bring about constructive change, and was launched after the deaths of Cameron Hamilton, 18, and Tom Roberts, 21.

NO MORE KNIVES: Read more about our campaign here >>>

The Ben Kinsella Trust was set up to help combat knife crime after the death of 16-year-old Ben Kinsella, who was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack in London in 2008.

Now, Patrick Green, CEO of Ben Kinsella Trust, thinks that better education is the way forward to preventing these atrocities.

He said: “Young people tell us that those who feel unsafe are three times more likely to carry a knife than young people who feel safe.

“We all know that carrying a knife never protects you, just puts you and those around you in greater danger.”

Patrick also explained how the prevalence of social media and its viral online content may also be to blame.

He added: “Young people are seeing a lot of violent content on social media and the algorithms often repeat the content.

“We’re seeing some young people that think violence is normalized, they think that they consider that it's there and it's all around them, they become desensitized to it.

Bournemouth Echo:

“There’s also a sense of glamour about always carrying a knife.

“This is enhanced through social media and there's a real need for a strong counter-narrative, both particularly through education, the work we're doing with young people, and through parents, mentors, and youth leaders."

The Ben Kinsella Trust also feels that the local authorities need more funding to combat knife crime.

Patrick added: “I don't think anybody's doing enough to tackle this issue.

“That said, the police with the resources they have are dealing with the aftermath of knife crime as best they can.

“We would like to see more resources allocated to police forces to help them tackle this issue, but we'd also like to see resources allocated to prevention and early intervention programs to run alongside this.

“They need greater support in terms of prevention and early intervention programs as well.

“That is key to the success and that's the reason we should all be doing more to tackle knife crime.”

Donations to the Ben Kinsella Trust can be made on its website.