(UK) Students convicted of bringing knives to school also chronically absent, special needs

June 14, 2018, (UK) Evening Standard: Children caught carrying knives are 'persistently absent' from school, study reveals https://www.standard.co.uk/news/education/children-caught-carrying-knives-are-persistently-absent-from-school-study-reveals-a3863076.html More than four out of five children convicted of carrying a knife have been “persistently absent” from school and played truant for long periods, an official report revealed today. The Ministry of Justice study also found that a similar proportion of offenders had been given a short term exclusion and that one in five had gone on to be permanently expelled. The report — the first official analysis of the educational background of juvenile knife carriers — also confirmed that exam results of those who carried blades were significantly lower than those of their peers. A higher proportion had special educational needs. The findings were intended to highlight some of the social causes fuelling the surge in knife crime, and will heighten concern about the role that absence from school plays in encouraging offending.=