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More than 900 pupils from 21 schools across Epping Forest District took part in this year’s virtual Crucial Crew.
Gang crime, grooming and County Lines
Now in its 18th year the event aims to educate Year 6 children on child exploitation in its many forms before they take the big step into secondary school.
The format involves watching a thought-provoking film followed by an interactive workshop looking at how young peoples’ decisions could change the outcome of the film’s story.
Themes such as gang crime, grooming and County Lines drug activity were discussed to raise awareness of the wrong decisions being made in the film and highlighting the warning signs and how to stay safe.
Helping young people to stay safe
Cllr Aniket Patel, Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Community Partnerships said:
The Council is committed to supporting local children and young people to stay safe and well by equipping them with the knowledge and skills to make positive choices in life. It’s particularly encouraging that we have been able to continue Crucial Crew, albeit in a different format, for all this time, helping equip thousands of our young people for the challenges they face.
Feedback from teachers was positive with comments such as:
Very relevant and interactive.
For a virtual presentation, it was excellent.
Loved the interactivity so we all could give feedback.
The children could relate to the characters portrayed.
Another school said:
The lady who led our interactive session was really good. In spite of the virtual lesson, she kept us engaged for an hour and gave us all a turn to contribute. She explained county lines really well to the classes so hopefully being forewarned is being forearmed.
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