The Very Definition of 'Displacement Activity'

...researchers, led by doctors at Barts Health NHS Trust in London, said knife injuries have soared in recent years.

They examined medical records of under-25s treated for stab wounds in London hospitals between 2004 and 2014. Some 1,824 young people had been stabbed - of whom 172 were aged under 16, 861 were 16 to 19, and 791 were aged 20 to 24.

Around 22 per cent of the under 16s who were knifed were attacked on a schoolday afternoon. This rose to 11 per cent among 16 to 24 year olds.

Which tells them...well, what, exactly? That gang culture is prevalent amongst young people from a certain demographic?

They called for schools to introduce a staggered finish to the day, to stop pupils leaving all at once, and called for a visible police presence at bus and train stations after school hours.

Errr, wait, what? All schools? Everywhere across the country?

So little Hamish in the Isles and Glyn in the Valleys must have their school times staggered, so Amibola & Duwayne don't meet outside MickeyD's for a rumble?

Insanity!

The researchers, who also included experts from Newcastle University, London Ambulance Service and South East Coast Ambulance Service, said schools must do more to help.

They wrote: 'The sharp increase in stab injuries between the ages of 14 and 16 suggests that educational programmes and other preventative interventions are best delivered in primary or early secondary education.

'We have shown that assaults resulting in penetrating injuries occur in distinct age-related patterns.

'Specifically, the period immediately after school accounts for a large proportion of incidents in children, and these predominantly occur close to home and school.

'This represents an opportunity for targeted preventative strategies in this population.'

'This population' being 'schoolchildren', I suppose? I can't help but feel that you're not tackling the real issue here...