Lainy Bedingfield runs Kingsway Community Connections, overseeing projects and services in part of the west of Glasgow with a focus on helping vulnerable teenagers.
She met Amen when he lived nearby.
Bedingfield said it was “frightening” to see how carrying knives had almost become normalised for teenage boys.
She told Scotland News: “They don’t quite understand the repercussions and they’re scared and they think they need it for protection.
“A misguided thought I would suggest, but that’s what we hear and that’s what we think is the root cause.”
The 16-year-old boy accused of Amen’s murder told his trial how he bought a sword online for £40.
He said that both he and Amen had swords and claimed that he stabbed him in self-defence.
The older teenager said he had been standing a distance away and did not attack Amen.
Bedingfield said regulations need to be stronger.
She added: “Legislate against it. Make it not happen.
“Make it impossible for young people to be buying bladed instruments across the internet and get them delivered to their house.”