Answer every question, and don't guess wildly. If you are not sure, pick the answer that seems most sensible and we will go through the reasoning together at the end. Name: Score: _____ / 10
1. What is the maximum prison sentence for carrying a knife in a public place without good reason?
A) A fine only
B) Six months
C) Four years
D) Ten years
2. Which of these counts as a "good reason" for having a knife in public?
A) Protection, because your area is dangerous
B) A chef carrying work knives, packed away, on the way to work
C) Looking after it for a friend
D) Forgetting it was in your bag
3. Someone who carries a knife is:
A) Safer, because they can defend themselves
B) More likely to be seriously hurt themselves
C) Only at risk if they use it
D) Breaking no law as long as it stays hidden
4. What is the minimum age for legally buying a knife in the UK?
A) 16
B) 18
C) 21
D) There is no minimum age
5. Roughly how many young people in the UK carry knives?
A) Almost everyone
B) About half
C) A small minority
D) Nobody at all
6. An older boy offers you money to hold onto a package or a blade for him. This is most likely:
A) Easy money and no risk to you
B) Fine, because it belongs to him, not you
C) An attempt to exploit you, and the criminal record would be yours
D) Legal as long as you don't open it
7. What is Fearless.org?
A) A social media app
B) A way to pass information about crime completely anonymously
C) A police recruitment website
D) A news site about knife crime
8. Your friend tells you he has started carrying. The best thing you can do for him is:
A) Keep his secret, because that's what friends do
B) Ask him to show you it
C) Say nothing but avoid him
D) Tell a trusted adult, even though it feels hard
9. A conviction for carrying a knife can affect:
A) Nothing, once you turn 18
B) Only jobs in the police
C) Jobs, college places and travel to some countries for years
D) Only people who used the knife
10. Almost every serious knife incident starts with:
A) A planned attack by strangers
B) Something small that nobody walked away from
C) Mistaken identity
D) Self-defence that went wrong
Answer Key (Teacher Copy)
1. C. Four years, under section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Worth adding that even a first offence means arrest and a record, not a quiet word. 2. B. Good reason means a legitimate purpose like work or a genuine tool need, transported sensibly. The courts have been consistent that protection is never a good reason. 3. B. This is the heart of the lesson. Carrying raises the carrier's own risk, because it escalates confrontation and the weapon can be used against them. 4. B. Eighteen. Retailers who sell to younger buyers commit an offence, and online sales rules have been tightened further. 5. C. A small minority. Challenge the "everyone carries" belief directly, because it is the belief that drives new carrying. 6. C. This is how exploitation starts, and it links directly to the county lines lesson in this series. The law treats the person in possession as the offender, which is exactly why older criminals use younger children to hold items. 7. B. Fearless is the youth arm of Crimestoppers. No name, no traced call, no statement. 8. D. Expect debate here, and let it run a little. The class needs to reach the conclusion that a secret which can kill your friend is not a secret worth keeping. 9. C. Convictions appear on DBS checks and can affect travel, including to the United States. 10. B. Most serious violence between young people grows out of small disputes, often online first. Walking away early is not cowardice, it is the single most effective protective behaviour there is.