Knives have no place in schools according to Hamilton Police

Hamilton Police investigating an incident at a City secondary school this morning in which a pupil was injured by another student with a knife say though the incident was without malice it serves as a timely reminder of the dangers of taking such items to school.

City Area Commander, Inspector Rob Lindsay, said officers were called to the school shortly after 10am.

"The matter is still currently under investigation but initial indications are that a group of boys had gathered at the school fields and were talking about knives and one 15-year-old said he wanted to test how sharp the knife he had with him was.

"It appears our 15-year-old victim has volunteered the use of one of his arms to test it on, the offender has drawn the knife across the boy's arm without affect and has then done it a second time, this time with more pressure resulting in a cut that required medical treatment."

Mr Lindsay said it was fortunate the school's emergency procedures were thorough and the victim was taken to Waikato Hospital for treatment.

Police and the school are now working together to educate the pupils of the legal and safety implications of bringing such items to school and that such behaviour is not ok.

"At the end of the day there appears to have been no malice involved but still this could have had even more serious consequences.

"We are currently working to establish why the boy had the knife in his possession and the matter has been referred to Youth Aid."

Mr Lindsay said it was disappointing that in two days two separate schools have had their emergency procedures tested but it was reassuring that in both cases those procedures had passed with flying colours.

"Schools are all about learning but perhaps these were life lessons that could have been learnt without a practical component, we want our schools to be safe places to send our kids and we will be working to ensure they remain just that."

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