Children to get life skills help over bullying

Youngsters will be taught essential skills for life over the next two weeks as the latest Crucial Crew sessions get underway in the district.

The annual event, organised by North Yorkshire Police and other agencies, brings together different organisations to give young people vital health and safety advice to help them deal with life challenges as they get older and become more independent.

The children, who are all in their final year at primary school, will get to grips with how to deal with real-life scenarios including: Truancy and the consequences of crime and peer pressure, domestic abuse, railway safety, drug dangers, anti-social behaviour and chat room and internet safety.

Chief Inspector Nick Warnes, of North Yorkshire Police's safer neighbourhood development team, said: "This is a great way to educate young people on how to stay safe and what to do if they find themselves in a difficult situation.

"The sessions are fun and engaging and capture the children's attention at an age when they are young enough to soak all the information up and old enough to understand the dangers. The skills they will learn will hopefully stay with them for the rest of their lives and may one day help to save a life.

"Crucial Crew also gives children a positive experience of the emergency services and other organisations who all work to help keep them and their communities safe."

Issues covered in the sessions also include open water safety, fire safety, healthy eating, first aid, road safety, relationships and safety in the countryside.

Stacey Mitchell, community safety coordinator for Craven Community Safety Partnership, added: "In an area of low crime, we hope that this event contributes towards making our young people better citizens and becoming more respectful and thoughtful of the various experiences they will have throughout their lives."

Other organisations involved in the sessions include Craven Council, North Yorkshire County Council, Duke of Edinburgh's Award Group and Craven Domestic Violence Service.