Self-defense classes could offer benefits to children experiencing a rise in youth violence, according to a senior police officer. Assistant Chief Constable Wendy Middleton stated that activities like boxing and martial arts can aid young people in developing better control over their behavior and emotions.
Middleton's remarks coincide with Police Scotland's launch of a campaign aimed at reducing violence, following a series of fatal stabbings involving teenagers. She defended the police's strategy of addressing violence as a public health issue, which involves tackling root causes such as poverty, family breakdown, trauma, substance abuse, adverse childhood experiences, school exclusion, and deprivation.
"Support mechanisms [such as self-defence] can be very helpful, but it is about that control and that regulation," Middleton said during the launch of Violence Prevention Week in Glasgow. She also noted that while Police Scotland has recorded the lowest proportion of under-18s accused of violent crime since 2020-21, officers have observed an increase in attempted murders involving 16 and 17-year-olds, along with a rise in weapons being recovered from young individuals.
Jimmy Paul, head of the government-funded Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (SVRU), echoed that self-defense training can play a role in helping young people protect themselves in dangerous situations but stressed it should complement broader preventative efforts.
Official figures from the Scottish Government in June indicated that non-sexual crimes of violence increased by 6 percent in the past year, with cases of serious assault and attempted murder also rising by 2 percent. A new video has been released as part of the campaign, featuring Lisa Petrie, whose son was fatally stabbed last year, to highlight the impact of violence on young people.
However, Scottish Tory justice spokesman Stephen Kerr criticized the current approach, stating, "Children should not be growing up feeling they need to learn self-defense because the SNP have allowed violence to become an increasingly familiar part of everyday life."