Knives

Today, I was walking out of the school grounds when I happened on four young teenage boys brandishing knives. They did not seem as if they were about to cause trouble; instead they seemed more focused, in the way most 14 year olds are, on looking cool. In order to achieve this they spent their efforts flipping the blades to a rhythmic beat that seemed to accentuate the image they were attempting to portray.

I confronted them which didn’t particularly have any real effect considering their limited English and my equally limited Sepedi. The conversation went something like this:

“Why do you have knives?” (in this corner Cait)
Blank stare (from corner “cool” teenage boys)
“You need to leave you can’t be by a school with knives.”
Blank stares
“It is illegal to have knives at a school. We can call the police.”
“No, it’s not illegal to have knives,” responded corner “cool” teenage boys indignantly.
“Wanna bet? It is illegal to have them at school around kids. Want me to call the police so you can find out?”
Stare of loathing aimed at me from team “cool” teenage boys
“Put them away.”

I walked off then. There wasn’t much else to do. From what I can tell no children were harmed in the incident but it does make me worry for the future.