Hundreds of students at a London college have staged a walkout over “intrusive” security checks taking place on campus.

Up to 200 pupils at City and Islington College in north London walked out on Monday for checks which the college says it has introduced due to rising knife crime rates and violence in the capital.

Photos and videos of the protest have since circulated on social media, showing large crowds of students chanting “Stop the research”.

Hazel, 16, a college student, described the security checks as “extremely intrusive” and disregarding students’ privacy. She said: “It makes me uncomfortable to know that I have personal belongings in my bag and it is very immoral for the school to suspect that all students have weapons in their bags. It’s not normal that they feel like they can just pry into our stuff.

‘There has always been knife crime in London,’ she added, ‘so it’s silly to introduce house searches now and unless it’s a mandatory law for everyone I don’t don’t think the college should just decide they feel like performing them once in a while.”

Another student, Tomas, 16, said: “College doesn’t feel like a place of learning, we are portrayed and treated like criminals. I fear for myself and especially my black friends as this may lead to a Child Q situation which is why I disagree with the stop and search.

In March, it emerged that a black teenage girl from Hackney, east London, nicknamed ‘Child Q’, had been strip searched by Metropolitan Police officers at school, despite having her rules, after a false accusation of drug possession.

Tomas added: “I’m disgusted that they don’t take appropriate action when children are in real danger and instead put innocent students in fear when there’s no real reason behind it. I’m disgusted that they used knife crime as an excuse, especially in a place like Islington. I’m from Haringey and lots of teenagers, like me, have suffered from knife crime and it’s super weird how they’ve used it as an excuse.

Kim, 16, also shared similar views to her classmates. She said: “The students have done nothing to bring about this new policy, so these administrators and others are only making us who are mostly Bame feel inferior and invaded.

“It frustrates me, it only disrupts my learning by making me arrive late for class. No one should have to wait in line and have their belongings searched. It’s a college, not a secure prison, we’re supposed to feel safe,” she added.

A college teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous, raised concerns about the searches.

They said, “I worked at the college for many years and we never had a knife incident. People felt very safe here, and although there were problems on the streets outside of campus, we never had a problem within the college. Following a knife incident at another college, our students are now vetted and feel like their privacy is being violated. The college no longer feels like home.

“Given the news of ‘Child Q’ in Hackney,” they added, “children identify with the incident and feel stigmatized by troublesome children who use knives at the slightest opportunity.They feel labeled and targeted.

“When the checks were announced, staff pleaded with management not to do them and even protested at the gates, but they continued anyway,” they said. “Now the students have made their voices heard clearly but the managers aren’t listening, so I imagine there will be continued protests until management listens.”

“The vast majority, if not all, of students are opposed to checks, so why should they continue?”

In response to the protest, the college released a statement on Twitter saying claims of stop-and-frisk checks are false and that most students favor increased security.

Kurt Hintz, executive director of the college, said: “The checks have been introduced because, tragically, knife crime is on the rise again in London, and there have been incidents resulting in the injury or death of young people, including students from our colleges in London.

“As one of London’s largest sixth form colleges,” he continued, “our duty is not just to educate and inspire our students, but to do all we can to ensure their safety as they are in our care.”

Regarding security checks, the college said they are sporadic, random and non-invasive to students and are intended to deter any student considering carrying a weapon on campus.

Mr Hintz added: ‘We surveyed students in February and of the 987 who responded, 623 (63%) said the random security checks for knives at the college entrance made them feel more secure. security.

“We are very sorry that some students had a negative experience of being randomly selected and checked… It was never our intention to make anyone feel like a victim, which is why the checks are completely random .

“Unfortunately, the sad reality is that young people in London are now at much greater risk of violence and the threat of violence in their daily lives…which is why we are carrying out additional security checks.”