Bohunt School Worthing incident: Staff and police praised for response after pupil detained

Staff and police have been praised for their response to an incident at a Worthing school yesterday morning (March 20).
Police at Bohunt School Worthing SUS-190320-153629001Police at Bohunt School Worthing SUS-190320-153629001
Police at Bohunt School Worthing SUS-190320-153629001

Seven police cars were called to Bohunt School Worthing in Broadwater Road after reports of a 14-year-old boy in possession of a ‘sharp craft pen’.

After the boy was detained on suspicion of affray and taken into custody, police and staff were praised for their swift and efficient response.

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Read the story as it happened here: Seven police cars called to incident at Worthing schoolCommenting on the Herald’s Facebook page, Helen Sykes said: “Surely the main thing to take from this is an incredibly swift police response that supported a calm and professional school response. Children may make foolish decisions at this age, but that doesn’t make them dangerous in themselves or the school a dangerous environment.

Police at Bohunt School Worthing SUS-190320-153640001Police at Bohunt School Worthing SUS-190320-153640001
Police at Bohunt School Worthing SUS-190320-153640001

“Fortunately this lad didn’t hurt anyone and all of the children at the school have learnt that there are definite consequences for carrying a knife. I’m sure that this has happened many times over the years in many schools and it’s just very much in the public consciousness right now due to the problems in other cities.

“It’s now been shown that sharing information about knives and knife crimes increases the chance of young people feeling the need to carry knives through increased concerns about their safety. The school is fine, the kids are fine, the lad in question will be dealt with.”

The overwhelming response on the Herald’s social media was one of calm and maintaining perspective in the face of recent nationwide fears over a knife crisis.

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Bunny Duke-Colley commented that this sort of thing had happened multiple times all over the country for years, and pointed to the impact of social media and its ability to ‘whip people into a frenzy’.

She praised Bohunt for sending out a ‘very reassuring’ email to parents and said the school and police dealt with it ‘perfectly’.

“Let’s just calm down and use some common sense,” she said.

The focus, said many commenters, should be on the root causes of violence and bullying in schools. Adam Hurley said the incident was indicative of a ‘nationwide epidemic’ that could not be blamed on one school.

He said: “The student in question, their mental state, history, family background and outside influences all need to be taken into consideration.”

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In a statement, Bohunt School Worthing confirmed a 14-year-old student was detained by officers after being found to be in possession of a sharp craft pen.

“Our staff immediately called the police, no-one was injured and the normal school day has resumed,” said the statement from yesterday afternoon.

“Student safety is our absolute top priority and we take matters like this extremely seriously, including continuing to work closely with the police and reassuring our students.”