A CONCERNED parent is calling for metal detectors to be installed in schools to keep children safe.

Karen Reed's 10-year-old son Joshua is going to secondary school in September and she says she is worried one day he might not come home.

Ms Reed, of Bredhurst Close, Penge, has written to Beckenham MP Jacqui Lait and Bromley Council to try and get them to increase security in schools.

Speaking just days after a parent was stabbed outside James Dixon Primary School, William Booth Road, Penge, the 42-year-old said: "I just want people to take the issue seriously.

"When I take my son to school he should be in a safe environment without any knives or guns.

"I do not want to hear my son has been stabbed and he's dead. I'm worried because my son is a gentle soul.

"If someone had a gun to my son's head I would rather stand in front of the gun than have him getting hurt.

"When you send your children to school in this day and age you worry about if they get into a to-do and end up dead."

Ms Reed believes an increasing number of children are carrying weapons because of peer pressure and thinks they are more likely to get into trouble if they arm themselves.

The mother-of-two believes metal detectors and a change in school discipline policy are the only ways to stop Bromley schools being overrun by weapons.

She thinks anyone who intentionally hurts someone or fights should get a maximum of three chances before being expelled from school.

Ms Reed said: "It should be three strikes and you're out.

"Children should learn they do not attack another pupil in their schools."

A Bromley Council spokesman said: "Putting metal detectors would be a measure for individual schools to consider. Discipline and bullying policies are drawn up by each school."

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