Teenage Knife Crime 青少年持刀行凶犯罪

Almost every week it seems another British teenager ends up dead as a result of a knife attack 持刀攻击.

While official figures 官方数据 suggest violent crime overall 总体暴力行凶数量 is falling, more offences 犯罪 are being committed by youngsters, and injuries are getting more severe.

The government has already begun an advertising¹ campaign 广告宣传攻势 to try to stop people carrying knives.

Now the prime minister, Gordon Brown, has said under 18s caught in possession should be prosecuted² 被起诉 for a first offence 初犯 instead of just let off with a warning 给予警告就放了.

The police are also being given extra funding 特别的资金 to increase weapons' searches and education.

Critics 批评家 say a zero tolerance³ approach 零容忍方法 will not solve the underlying⁴ problems 更深层的问题, with young people often carrying knives to protect themselves.

But everyone agrees something has to be done to end what a senior judge 高级法官 has called an "epidemic⁵" 流行病 of knife crime.