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SAFETYEducation

Spring 2007

ISSN 0459-2034

Contents

SAFETY Education Spring 2007 1

Inside this issue...

Managing Editor Janice Cave

Editorial ConsultantJim Barrow

Occupational Safety AdviserRoger Bibbings

Risk Education AdviserJenny McWhirter

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News 2Road deaths down

Seatbelts 4Children’s campaign

Fashion 5Notts focus

Dot com 6New websites

A bit of a risk 8Young perceptions

Defying the critics 11Star children

Samaritans step in 12Emotional health

Alcohol 14Targetting young adults

New approach 15The SMARTRISK way

Mini motos 16Buying a hazard

2 SAFETY Education Spring 2007

News

I Londonroads saferLondon’s roads have becomesafer for children according tofigures released by Transportfor London.

The number of childrenkilled and seriously injuredon London’s roads has fallenfrom an average of 935 a yearin the mid/late 1990s to 355 in2005, a 62 per cent reduction.

The Government set atarget of reducing thenumber of people killed orseriously injured by 40 percent compared with the 1994-98 average by 2010, with a 50per cent target for children.The Mayor of London recent-ly increased the target inLondon to 50 per cent forKSIs and 60 per cent for childKSIs, which has already beenmet four years early.

I The drama of school travel

I Jenny is RoSPA’snew risk adviser

A dramatic theatre produc-tion returned to Lancashire aspart of a scheme encouragingmore children to walk andcycle to school.

During October, 21 schoolsacross the county experienceda performance of Car Story, aninteractive drama which bringssafety and sustainability mes-sages dramatically to life.

This lively production, per-formed by London based the-atre group Box Clever, wastouring this autumn thanks toLancashire County Council’sschool travel plan team, whohave funded and organisedthe programme.

The production is a fun andinteractive way of encour-aging children to questionhow they travel to school andlooks at the plus points ofsustainable travel options,such as walking, cycling andusing public transport.

Dorothy Crane, from theschool travel plan team, said:“We are pleased to be wel-coming Car Story back to

Lancashire. When we previ-ously held these theatreevents, they proved to bevery successful and popularwith pupils.

“Live theatre in schools canhelp us to put across impor-tant messages in a really ex-citing and dynamic way. InCar Story, children are en-couraged to think about thebenefits of walking and cy-cling to school as an alterna-tive to being brought by car.

“The performance is de-signed to complement thework of school travel plans,which many schools have al-ready put in place. Developinga school travel plan helpspupils to consider how jour-neys to and from school canbe made safer and more sus-tainable. Government targetssuggest that by 2010, allschools should have theirown travel plan.”

Car Story is set in a busyhouse in a typical Englishtown. It is a weekday morn-ing and Dad is late for work.

Polly is also late for schoolbecause she is waiting for herDad who is still in his pyja-mas! On their journey toschool Dad is introduced toroad safety, to alternativetransport and even managesto fall in love. It turns out to

be a journey which changeshis life forever.

The production is aimed atjunior school-aged childrenand lasts approximately 40minutes, followed by a 30minute workshop for a selec-tion of the older children.

Jenny McWhirter joinedRoSPA in September 2006 asrisk education adviser after along association withRoSPA’s safety educationcommittee. Jenny has experi-ence in research with youngpeople about health issues.This includes several studiesfor RoSPA on children’s un-derstanding of risk.

Prior to joining RoSPAJenny was head of Educationand prevention at Drug-Scope. She also ran the MScin Health Education withHealth Promotion at theUniversity of Southampton.Jenny’s new role at RoSPA isto raise the profile of risk ed-ucation by influencing policymakers and practitioners. Herfirst task has been to meetand introduce herself to keystakeholders and committeemembers.

"In the long term I want tosee teachers and youth work-ers being more comfortablewith the concept of risk, andable to teach it more confi-dently. This means influenc-ing a wide range of policymakers, including the Dep-artment for Education andSkills (DfES), Department ofHealth, Ofsted the Qualific-ation and Curriculum Auth-ority (QCA) and the TeacherDevelopment Agency," shesays.

Jenny is working part timefor RoSPA so the best way tocontact her is via e-mail: [email protected]


News

I Fund raising walk next May

I Newguide foremployersAs part of European Healthand Safety Week in October,EEF, the manufacturers’ or-ganisation, the Departmentfor Education and Skills, andCaterpillar launched a newguide for employers whohost site visits for schoolsand other educational estab-lishments.

The guide, available to allemployers at www.safevis-its.org.uk, sets out the practi-cal information needed to runsite visits safely. It also offersprintable check-lists to helpwith the planning process.

Site visits are beneficial toboth companies and to stu-dents. Employers can identifyand sponsor young talentand be role models for stu-dents, while young peopleget a more hands-on ap-proach to learning and gaininsights into industry whichcannot be learned in theclassroom. However, evi-dence suggests that somecompanies are put off be-cause of health and safety re-quirements, an issue theguide is designed to over-come in a practical manner.

EEF health and safety ad-viser Louise Ward said:“Health and safety should notbe a barrier to educationalvisits in the majority of sec-tors. Our website is designedto guide companies througha planning and risk manage-ment process which will helpto ensure that both employ-ers and students benefit fromengagement”

Further information onEuropean Health and SafetyWe e k i s a v a i l a b l e a tw w w . h s e . g o v . u k / c a m -paigns/euroweek/index.htm.

This year’s Gwent SafeCycling Championship finalin Cwmbran was again agreat success.

Seventy one children fromall over Gwent, who had allearned the right totake part by win-ning regional com-petitions. TheMayors or Chair-men of the fiveparticipating au-

ICycling winners in Gwentthorities as well as parentsand supporters were watch-ing.

The overall winning schoolteam was The Bryn School,Pontllanfraith, whose team

Every primary school andspecial needs school in theUK is being asked to adopt ahealthy fund raising ideatried out in hundreds ofschools this year.

Organisers of Walk2Livesay some 24,000 schools and350,000 children are expectedto sign up for the walk-in nextMay - after raising £100,000this year in a full-scale trialrun.

The schools will do a walk

all at the same time, with theaim of getting in the recordbooks, while raising £2 mil-lion for their schools andgood causes.

This year many schoolsraised up to £2,000 each, toput towards projects such asIT rooms, help for old folkshomes and donations to na-tional charities.

Each school taking part inWalk2Live pays just £10 regis-tration to help towards admin-

istration, with details onwww.walk2live.org.

Author Geoff Blore, who isbehind the huge operation,said schools which took partin the full-size operation thisyear enjoyed a fun day ofhealthy walking, while pro-viding funds for new facilitiesat their schools and much-needed cash for a huge num-ber of charities.

He said: “While all schoolsshould be fully funded by theGovernment the reality is thatthey do not have the moneyfor some of today’s essen-tials, such as IT rooms, extralibrary books and additionalplayground equipment.”

Walk2Live is promoting ahealthy lifestyle through thesimple, life-giving act of walk-ing, while raising money forvital equipment for schoolsand charities.

More details of the hugewalk-in are on the website atwww.walk2live.org.

comprised of Liam White,Emma Hughes, Alice Shawand Sophie Shaw. Cllr AllenWilliams, the deputy Mayorof Caerphilly, presented theteam trophy.


News

I ‘Mummy, belt us in, it’s the law!’The children of SissinghurstPrimary School near Cranbrookshowed their support for newchild seat laws by holding a minidemonstration in their play-ground.

Under the new law, everychild under 135cm is legallyrequired to use an appropriatechild seat or booster cushion fortheir age and height.

The demonstration was or-ganised by Kent CountyCouncil’s road safety team topromote the correct use ofseatbelts and child car seatrestraints. The children worematching t-shirts and marchedaround the playground whilechanting “Belt us in, it’s thelaw!”, stomping their feet andwaving placards with mes-sages such as “Mummy, I’mno crash test dummy.”

KCC is distributing more

than 100,000 child heightcharts to primary schoolsaround the county. The chartincludes vital information onthe new law that answers anyquestions parents andguardians may have aboutthe change in legislation.Large posters explaining thenew regulations are alsobeing displayed at the gatesof primary schools aroundthe county.

Kent County Council leadmember for highways, Roger

Manning, explained why thechange in law will help pro-tect children. “Too many par-ents are risking the safety oftheir children by using incor-rect child restraints or – insome cases – none at all.Some may feel that they arein too much of a rush to en-sure their children are proper-ly restrained, or are con-cerned at the expense of in-stalling correct child seat. Aminute or two spent makingsure children are securely

strapped in can save a life-time of agony.”

“This is not just a matter ofinforming and enforcing anew piece of Governmentlegislation,” Mr Manning con-tinued, “but making everyparent aware of the dangersof not using the correct childsafety seat for their child.Even on the shortest of trips,by not restraining your childwith the correct seat restraint,you are putting their life atrisk.”

I Korea visitsRoSPASafety campaigners in SouthKorea are forging links withRoSPA in a bid to reduce accidents throughout theircountry.

A delegation from theKorean Association for SafeCommunities spent threedays on a fact-finding mis-sion at the Royal Society forthe Prevention of Accidents’Birmingham base.

They were particularly keento hear how RoSPA sets stan-dards for play safety in theUK and abroad.

Errol Taylor, RoSPA’s DeputyChief Executive, said “Thedelegation was impressed byour innovative approach toplay safety – ‘play areasshould be as safe as neces-sary, not as safe as possible’ –and by our awards scheme torecognise the play operatorswho provide real value andservice.


Conspicuity

School children from JesseGray Primary School inNottinghamshire teamed upwith Nottinghamshire CountyCouncil and BrightKidz to puton a fashion show and dem-onstrate the ways childrencan 'Be Safe and Seen' in flu-orescent and reflective cloth-ing.

The aim was to highlightthat children are vulnerable ifthey do not dress safely andremind young people aboutthe importance of wearing

bright clothes in the day andreflective clothes at night. Italso aimed to help childrensee the fun and stylish waysof being safe and seen.

Liz Rickards, principal offi-cer for road and communitysafety with NottinghamshireCounty Council said, "As theclocks go back and the nightsget darker, it's easy to forgetthat car drivers find it muchharder to see you whenyou're out and about. Nomatter what age you are,being safe on the roads is re-ally important - so make surethat you 'think' before goingnear roads at all times. Iwould also encourage driversto ensure that they use theirlights when it's dark or whenthe weather is poor so thatother road users can seethem"

Nationwide Building Societyhas announced it is to extendits child road safety cam-paign to 2010.The society willdistribute one million pedes-trian safety reflectors, knownas “Cats’ Eyes”, per year toevery new intake of YearOne primary school chil-dren in the country.

As the clocks wentback in October, millionsof school children acrossthe UK began making theirjourneys home from schoolin much darker conditions.With Nationwide’s pledge to

extend the Cats’ Eyes for Kidscampaign to 2010 it is hopedthe programme’s outstandingsuccess will continue and sohelp to keep children safer inthe dark winter months.

Nationwide’s campaign,

which has run since 2001 andinvolved distributing morethan 11 million reflectors,supports the Government’sobjective of reducing childroad casualties. A recentGovernment announcementrevealed that the number ofchild pedestrians killed or se-riously injured in road acci-

dents in 2005 fell by 49 percent when compared to thebaseline average 1994-1998.

This means that the Gov-ernment has nearly achievedits target, announced in theyear 2000, of reducing the

number of children killedor seriously injured on theroads by 50 per cent bythe year 2010 (when com-pared to the baseline av-erage).

To help increase children’sawareness and understand-ing of the importance of roadsafety, Nationwide has alsoproduced curriculum-linkedroad safety worksheets whichare available via http://www.natiowide .co.uk to-gether with links to other use-ful road safety websites.

Notts fashion show

More cats’ eyes for kids

Nationwide’s campaign involved distributing morethan 11 million reflectors

The aim was to highlight that

children are vulnerable if they do

not dress safely


dot.com

Energy Networks Association,the industry body for theelectricity and gas transmis-sion and distribution compa-nies, has launched the first ofits online educational resources.ENA is working closely withteachers to ensure the re-sources meet the require-ments of teachers in deliver-ing the National Curriculum.

The first stage of the proj-ect has been to produce webpages providing resourcesfor infant school children,who are at Key Stage 1 and 2of the National Curriculum.

Future plans include pro-viding resources for eachstage of the National Curric-ulum and beyond with theaim of encouraging people to

enter the energy industry as acareer. The pages also carryimportant safety messagesfrom the very beginning.

“Gas and Electricity need tobe treated with respect and ifwe can teach youngstersfrom an early age about thedangers as well as the advan-tages, then hopefully as theygrow up we will see less acci-dents”; said Peter Coyle theENA’s safety health and envi-ronment manager.

Visit the new ENA educa-tion pages at: http://www.en-ergynetworks.org/spring/ed-ucation/ed01.asp and giveyour views and suggestions,via the feedback form. Thenext stage of the project willsee the addition of resources

ENA education pages

www.energynetworks.org

RoSPA’s updated site

www.youngworker.co.ukA website promoting the safe-ty of young workers has beenrevamped. RoSPA’s updatedsite – www.youngworker.co.uk- provides a useful online re-source for employers (partic-ularly those with fewer than200 employees), work experi-ence organisers and youngpeople aged 14-25 who areinvolved in work experienceor starting work for the firsttime. Other people interestedin the health, safety and wel-fare of young people, includingparents and guardians, mightalso find the site helpful.

New content includes regu-larly updated links to youngworker case studies, a facilityenabling young people tosubmit their work experiencestories, links to RoSPA prod-ucts and resources related towork experience, and a toolenabling work experience or-ganisers to test their skillsand knowledge.

Safe Start – the EuropeanWeek for Safety and Health atWork, run by the EuropeanAgency for Safety and Healthat Work in October) - was ded-

icated to the occupationalwellbeing of young people.

Figures published in Hazardsmagazine in August showedthat more than 4,000 16-24year-olds are seriously injured atwork every year, 12 are killedand 15,000 are injured badlyenough to be forced off workfor more than three days.

Roger Bibbings, RoSPA oc-cupational safety adviser, said:“Accidents are a major causeof death and injury to our pop-ulation and the greatest singlethreat to life for children andyoung people. A lack of expe-rience together with risk-tak-ing behaviour, especially dur-ing the teenage and young

adult years, can be a lethalcombination - particularly whenthey occur in the environmentsof road or workplace.

“Figures show that a youngworker, aged between 16 and24, is seriously injured every40 minutes in the UK and oneyoung person is killed at workeach month. We hope ournew look website will helpcut these tragedies by in-creasing interest in healthand safety among the youngand providing a valuable re-source for employers.”

Supervisors have a key role

for Key stages 3 and 4. Eachsection contains online activi-ties for pupils and download-able worksheets.

to play in establishing safeworking practices among theiryoung workers and RoSPA runsa training course for those re-sponsible for managing youngpeople at work. The Society alsooffers organisation-specific riskawareness courses for youngworkers themselves and consul-tancy services. Young-workersafety will also be taken intoconsideration as part of the2007 RoSPA OccupationalHealth and Safety Awards.

Visit www.hse.gov.uk/cam-paigns/euroweek for more in-formation on Safe Start.


dot.com

A new website aimed at rais-ing children’s awareness offire safety precautions hasbeen launched.

The Blaze Aware website -part of the ScottishExecutive’s Don’t Give Fire aHome website - has been de-veloped to support theScottish Fire and RescueServices’ community educa-tion programmes.

The site includes a ‘hazardhouse’ game, which asks chil-dren to work against the clockto identify safety hazardswithin three rooms of ahouse - the bedroom, livingroom and kitchen. Childrenwho identify all the hazardsare rewarded with a ‘virtualtoken’. As they progressthrough the site further to-kens can be collected andprinted off in the form of acertificate.

Launching the website atthe Royal High PrimarySchool in Edinburgh, wherepupils have successfully test-ed the site, Deputy JusticeMinister Hugh Henry said“Too many lives are lost eachyear because of fires in thehome, many of which couldhave been avoided. In 2004alone five children were killedand 176 injured in fires inScotland. That is why we aredetermined to ensure everychild has access to commonsense advice on how to staysafe.

“The Blaze Aware websiteis designed to be a fun, cre-ative and interactive way ofgetting the message across.Children have an importantrole to play in keeping theirhomes and families safe,whether by unplugging videogames, appreciating the dan-gers of matches or simply bypestering adults to checksmoke alarms.

“There’s also valuable ad-vice on what to do in theevent of a fire, what to do ifyour clothes catch fire andsimple rules of fire safetywhich are easy to learn.

“The website will also helpyoung people to grow into re-sponsible citizens by raisingawareness of the conse-quences of hoax calls andtampering with fire hydrants.

“Lothian and Borders FireService have made a valuableinput to the development ofthis resource and I hope thatfire services across Scotland,parents, teachers and youngpeople will all find it a usefultool in reducing fire deathsand injuries across the coun-try.”

Ken Harrold, convenor ofthe Lothian and Borders Fire

Board said “We are delightedto have participated in the de-velopment of this website. Itis exciting that we have yetanother educational resourceto share with teachers, par-ents and young people.”

The Blaze Aware website ispart of the Executive’s Don’tGive Fire a Home website,created to help addressScotland’s poor fire safetyrecord.

The site cost £36,000 todevelop and has been de-signed to help support exist-ing school education pro-grammes and communityyouth work.

Lothian and Borders, recog-nised as leaders in the provisionof fire safety advice in schools,provided advice throughout thedesign process.

The website is divided intothree parts: one part for fourto seven year-old, one part foreight years and upwards anda section providing resourcesfor parents, teachers and vol-unteers.

Visit http://www.infoscot-land. com/blazeaware

Fire safety awareness

www.infoscotland.com/blazeaware


Risk

Since joining RoSPA as thenew risk education adviser Ihave been told that profes-sionals working with childrenand young people are in-creasingly risk averse – some-times out of concern for chil-dren’s safety or fear of litiga-tion or sometimes out of amisunderstanding of measuresto regulate and control risk

Yet many professionals Imeet are also concerned thatby trying to reduce or elimi-nate risk from children’s liveswe are preventing them fromlearning their physical andemotional limits, even ineveryday situations. This, theysay, increases the chance ofaccidents when young peo-ple find themselves in newand unfamiliar situations.

In 1992 I wrote an article forSafety Education about howchildren of primary schoolage understand ‘keepingsafe’. The article was inspiredby ground-breaking work pio-neered by Noreen Wetton andTrefor Williams at SouthamptonUniversity using the ‘drawand write technique’. Notlong after I wrote that article Iembarked on a series of stud-ies using the draw and writetechnique to explore howchildren and young peopledevelop their understandingof risk.

There are many academicarticles about how the publicunderstands risk differentlyto technicians and statisti-cians. Developmental psy-chologists and sociologistshave also examined how chil-dren and young people per-ceive risk.

However, most of this workbegins where the relevant ex-pert is – sometimes with a listof hazards known to causeharm to young people suchas roads and drugs, or withan expert understanding ofprobability. These ‘deficit’models seek to explain whychildren have an imperfect

view of the world and aretherefore more vulnerable.

The draw and write tech-nique starts where the chil-dren and young people are. Itasks what risk means to themand how they would managethe risk in that situation. Aswell as revealing a differentaspect of risk from a child’seye, it also provides a placefor teachers and health pro-fessionals to start to planhow to develop relevant, in-teresting and appropriate les-sons for the young people intheir care.

How it worksExplain to the groups thatyou are going to ask them todraw and write about some-thing which different peopledescribe in different ways.Ask them not to share theirideas with each other tobegin with, so that you can allsee how many different waysthere are to think about this.Tell them they are going todraw and write about whatrisk means to them.

Ask them to draw someonetheir own age doing some-thing risky. (It can be a stickperson). Do not clarify whatrisky means, tell them todraw what they think itmeans or write ‘I don’t know’.

Ask them to write, underthe picture, what is happen-ing in the picture.

Ask them to write whatmakes this risky.

Finally ask them to returnto their drawing and drawthem selves in the scene.What would they be doing orsaying to help?

The first thing we learnfrom this research is thatyoung people (and manyadults!) equate risk with dan-ger. They demonstrate thiswith drawings of people theirown age teetering on theedge of high buildings, on

cliff edges, falling from aero-planes or tightropes andbungee jumping. When askedwhat makes it risky somechildren write: “It’s risky be-cause it is dangerous.”

Danger is one end of a con-tinuum of risk, where the con-sequence is both severe and

highly probable. Other haz-ards are associated with lesssevere consequences and alower probability of harm andare at the opposite end of thatcontinuum. These risks aresometimes depicted in exam-ples of ‘misbehaviour’ – such

as taking another biscuitwhen mum has told you notto. The consequence from thechild’s point of view is ofbeing told off (perhaps notvery likely, or not too severeand so a risk worth taking). Ofcourse the mother may per-ceive the risks rather differently

It’s a bit risky is this!We live in a ‘risk society’. Risk is everywhere and the implication is that risk should beavoided wherever and whenever possible,says Jenny McWhirter


Risk

and may be more concernedwith preventing her childfrom becoming overweight,or not having enough to lastuntil the next shopping trip.

Some young people combinehazards with other behaviours, sosmoking cannabis can be seenboth as a risk to health and asmisbehaviour, where the harmcomes from getting caught.

The research, now carriedout with thousands of chil-dren and young people reveals

patterns in the hazardsthey identify and theapproaches to manag-ing the risk.

For example, the fre-quency with whichroad hazards appear inthe samples vary withage, peaking among 9-13 year olds and againat age 16-18. The context dif-fers though – while theyounger group depict cycleand pedestrian accidents, theolder group depict them-selves as drivers or passen-gers in cars, often in situa-tions where the driv-er has been drinkingalcohol.

Boys more oftendepict scenes wherethe risk taking is de-liberate, such asplaying “chicken” byrunning across abusy road. Girls aremore likely to per-ceive consequencesfor other road usersand the friends and familiesof road accident victims thanboys at the same age.

Of most concern to teach-ers and safety professionalswhose pupils have taken partin this research is the lack ofawareness of how to manageor control risks in unfamiliarsituations. Children are ableto give good advice to theperson in their picture aboutcrossing the road safely orriding bicycles in the dark,but they are on more shakyground when knowing whatto do if a friend is drunk, on

drugs or committing a crime. In a survey of 6,000 11-18

year olds in Essex schoolsonly two young people wouldhave involved an adult. This is

perhaps the most worryingfinding of all. Why are chil-dren and young people un-likely to call on adult help andsupport when they or theirfriends are at risk? Is the fearof being told off so great, orare they simply unaware ofthe services and supportavailable to them?

Risk is a concept which un-derpins so much of the workdone in personal, social and

health education, not just ininjury prevention. This re-search technique, used aclassroom activity can helpteachers start where their

pupils are in theirunderstanding ofrisk, challengeand build on thatunder s tand ingand help them tosee how, byrecognising theirpersonal re-sponse to risk,they can help tokeep themselvesand others safe –

while having fun and learningfrom their experience.

As RoSPA’s new risk educa-tion adviser I hope to be ableto persuade policy makersand practitioners that risk is aconcept which can be taughtand can add value to existinggood practice in PSHE.

Many professionals I meet are also concerned that by

trying to reduce or eliminate riskfrom children’s lives we are

preventing them from learning theirphysical and emotional

limits, even in everyday situations


Activity sheet

Carry out the draw and write activity withyour pupils. Invite them to share some of thehazards they have identified (high places,misbehaviour, roads, alcohol, illegal drugs,fireworks, railway crossings). Write each oneof these on a separate sheet of A4 paper, sothat it can be read from the back of theroom, and add a few of your own. Thesecould be inspired by a particular issue youwant to raise, or an activity you are planningfor them.

The following examples might be appropri-ate for pupils in Key Stage 4:

• Leaving a drink unattended at a party • Canoeing • Chatting to someone on the internet

Include at least one activity where thesense of danger (and thrill!) is high, but therisks are carefully controlled, such as a rollercoaster ride.

Now invite individual pupils to selectone of the hazards and stand on animaginary line at the front of the class,where high risk (severe conse-quences, highly probable) is at oneend and low risk (least severe conse-quences, low probability) at the otherend.

Ask them to hold their ‘hazard’sheets so others can see them.

When they are in position ask therest of the class if they agree. If anyonedisagrees, ask them to take that hazardand change places.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY TO HELPYOUNG PEOPLE UNDERSTANDTHE CONCEPT OF RISK Key Stages 2-4

Do this a few times so that it is clear thatdifferent people see risk differently. Are thereany examples where most people agree?

Now invite the pupils to get into groups todiscuss some of the more risky activities.What steps would they take to manage orcontrol the risk, so that the probability ofharm is reduced – and the possibility of benefits is increased? Encourage them toidentify sources of adult help and supportwhere appropriate.

Invite them to reflect on what they havelearned about risk by doing this activity?

Ask them to imagine that they have a riskthermostat which experience has set for them.

Where is their personal risk thermostat set?

Do they like to take risks, or do they prefernot to take risks?


Awards

Youngsters defy the criticsWithin a week of Britishyouths being described asthe worst in Europe, Humber-side youngsters have defiedthe critics!

At the Lifestyle Awards cer-emony held at the Hull CityHall in November, a team ofsix 11 and 12 year old childrencalled ‘The Healing PoolSavers’ were crowned Cham-pions of Lifestyle 2006. Thepanel of judges includedsponsors BP and leading safe-ty solutions provider, Arco.

The winning team scoopeda holiday of a lifetime toDisneyland Florida for theirstunning project: the restora-tion of the outdoor swim-ming pool at Healing PrimarySchool, Grimsby.

The Lifestyle Project, organ-ised by Humberside Policethroughout the school sum-mer holidays each year, isopen to young people agedbetween 10 and 18, who livein the vicinity of or attendschool in the Humberside po-lice area. The project is de-signed to forge relationshipsbetween children, their com-munities and the local police.

Last summer, around 1,400teams entered the competi-tion, choosing a variety ofprojects to undertake through-out the summer. At the end ofthe school holidays, just sixfinalist teams of up to five 10-18 year olds were short-list-ed. The five runner-up teamseach won a fabulous Adventureholiday to France including aday at Disneyland Paris.Brough Primary School alsoscooped the Lifestyle TopSchool of the year Award,winning £2,000 worth ofcomputer equipment, cour-tesy of Azzurri Commun-ications.

Ch ie f Cons tab le o fHumberside Pol ice, TimHollis said, “Young peopleget a pretty bad time from themedia these days. In my ex-perience, the majority areperfectly normal kids grow-ing up in a challenging world.Our Lifestyle project is testa-

ment to the fact that, giventhe right encouragement andsupport, many of them ac-tively seek to make a contri-bution to their local communi-ty.

“We have illustrated the su-perb work undertaken byteams to improve do just thatacross Humberside and I’mproud of the role played byHumberside Police in makingLifestyle happen. This yearalone more than 5,000 youngpeople took part in Lifestyle,working thousands of hoursto help others. I want to offermy personal congratulationsto everyone involved.”

One of the judges, PaulLyons from Arco, said, “‘I wasexceptionally impressed withall of the Lifestyle finalists andwould like to congratulate thewinners, Healing Pool Savers.The way in which they man-aged their project was superb.

“Each individual took per-sonal responsibility for spe-cific areas of work. This, com-bined with the sheer scale ofthe task, the fact that every-one said it would be impossi-ble and the resultant benefitto the community made theHealing Pool Savers veryworthy winners indeed. Welldone to the whole team. All ofthat hard work was worth it!”

Lisa Whitton, Lifestyle proj-

ect coordinator at Humber-side Police, added, “Thishighly successful initiativehas only been able to go fromstrength to strength due tothe support of local business-es. Arco is a much-valuedlong term supporter of theHumberside Police LifestyleProject, sponsoring the LifestyleAwards Ceremony, which recog-nises and rewards the thou-sands of young peoplethroughout the Humber re-gion who take part in theproject annually. Many hoursare spent on work to improvelocal communities and im-portant life skills are learnt byall those participating duringthe long summer holidays.”

Arco also strongly supportsthe Humberside PoliceLifestyle Rock Challengewhich encourages secondaryschool students to achieve anatural drug-free high throughperformance. Due to theirsuccess in the Lifestyle RockChallenge. Students of Mat-thew Humberstone School inCleethorpes, provided the en-tertainment at the LifestyleAwards.

The pool renovated byHealing Pool Savers hadbeen closed for more thantwo years and was in a verysorry state with stagnantwater and vandalised chang-

ing rooms. The team decidedthey wanted to re-open thepool and enthusiastically setabout gaining permission forthe project to go ahead andenlisted the help of everyone- local businesses, family andfriends to completely reno-vate and then re-open theswimming pool.

Jobs undertaken includedinstalling hot running waterin the changing rooms, anddecorating them inside andout. The team also repairedand repainted the exteriorfencing around the pool andcreated a lovely garden area.The local fire brigade evenhelped by pumping out thesmelly water from the pool!

No job was too dauntingfor the team as an officialHealth and Safety reporthighlighted many areas ofconcern regarding the pool,the team saw this as an op-portunity to use their powersof persuasion to encourageelectricians, plumbers andeven the original pool makersto donate their services tohelp them undertake themany tasks required.

Thanks to the efforts of TheHealing Pool Savers, the poolis now open once more en-abling hundreds of local stu-dents to learn to swim formany years to come.


Emotion

Samaritans has launched itsDEAL (Developing EmotionalAwareness and Learning) pro-gramme for schools, to imp-rove the emotional health ofyoung people across the UKand Ireland.

It’s targeted at teens toequip them with the emotion-al skills they need to copewith the “knocks” today’s so-ciety throws their way.

DEAL goes to every second-ary school, to be used as partof a whole school approach toemotional health and wellbe-ing. It builds on extensivework Samaritans has donebefore with schools and willactively promote the emo-tional wellbeing of youngpeople, raise awareness ofemotional health, promotepositive ways of coping andchallenge the stigma aroundasking for help.

The group Sugababesshowed their support forDEAL by taking part in aSamaritans photoshoot toback the launch.

Talking about emotionalhealth in schools, Sugababesnewest recruit Amelle Berrabahsaid: “Teachers should keep aneye out for any change in akid’s behaviour and makethemselves available for theirstudents to talk to. Theyshould also encourage kids towrite things down if they findit too hard to talk about theirproblems out loud. “

Keisha Buchanan said:“Always accentuate the goodthings about yourself anddon’t hide behind your inse-curities. Be happy in yourself.If you need to talk to some-body don’t be scared. Speakout, don’t bottle things up.”

Heidi Range said: “Youshould be judged on the wayyou are as a person not for

how you look. People whojudge you otherwise are justinsecure themselves.”

“Kids shouldn’t feel it’s stu-pid to ask for help and worrythat they will be bullied if any-body finds out they have.Whoever they speak toshould be approachable andable to listen confidentially toanything that’s botheringthem, without fear of beingjudged.”

Fiona Feehan, national co-

ordinator of the NationalHealthy Schools Programmefor England said:” The NHSShas emotional health andwell-being as one of its fourcore themes. We place greatimportance on a healthyschool being one which alsocaters for the emotionalhealth and well-being of itspupils and staff. This includesinformation and awareness-raising alongside clear refer-ral pathways and systems ofsupport.”

Danny McNamara, leadsinger of Embrace, supportsSamaritans’ launch of DEALfor schools and features inDEAL’s DVD talking aboutemotional problems he hadwhen he was younger.

Danny tells how he turned

to Samaritans for support andadds: “Everyone puts on abrave face when they haveproblems. Young people findit harder than anyone to askfor help – they’re usually thelast ones to ask for help whenthey need it.”

The UK alone has 7.2 millionchildren of school age andDEAL is being announced at atime when:-• One in five children has

psychological problems

• One in 10 children has aclinically diagnosable men-tal disorder

• More than 60 per cent ofteenage boys don’t knowwhat to do when someonebecomes emotional to-wards them

• More than 40 per cent ofgirls also don’t know howto react to someone who’supset

• More than half of teenagersdon’t know how to expresstheir feelings – they canonly stick to the facts whenthey talk about their prob-lems

• Ten per cent of teenagers(15-16 year olds) have self-harmed

• A record 60 children a dayare suspended or sent

Emotional health isfocus for the Samaritans

home from London schoolsfor violent behaviour

• Seventy five per cent of chil-dren with “conduct disor-der” problems when aged10 still have them whenaged 15 years old

• Fifty per cent of childrenwith emotional problemswhen aged 10 still havethem when aged 15 yearsold

• Emotional health promo-tion should not rely on in-formation alone but shouldinvolve the development ofstudent skills and behav-iours that are reinforced inthe wider community

• Emotional and social com-petence has been shown tobe more influential thancognitive abilities for per-sonal, career and scholasticsuccess. Working in thisarea can improve educa-tional and life chancesThe DEAL resource pack in-

cludes:• An introduction to emotion-

al health for schools• Activities for staff• A DVD with separate sec-

tions for staff and pupils• Cross curricular lesson

plans • A series of fact sheets

Development coordinatorwith Samaritans, Tonja Sch-midt, who leads on DEAL,said: “All schools have a re-sponsibility to promote theemotional health of their stu-dents yet 63 per cent of teach-ers say they do not feel confi-dent delivering this subject inthe classroom. DEAL hasbeen shown to improveteacher confidence, whichhelps them to create a moreemotionally healthy schoolenvironment.”

Research by Professor KeithHawton, director of the


Emotion

ritansUniversity of Oxford centrefor suicide research, forSamaritans, showed the mostcommon reason for youngpeople self-harming was re-lieving a ‘terrible state ofmind’.

The study also found thatmore than 40 per cent ofyoung people looked for afriend’s help before harmingthemselves. Following thesefindings, Samaritans setabout developing the DEALpack as a way of encouragingyoung people to developmore constructive copingstrategies and ensuring theirpeers are better equipped tosupport them through difficulttimes.

This is an excellent exampleof a robust academic studyleading directly to a resourcevaluable to people in every-day life.

Emotional health-relatedskills are important to all partsof life. DEAL lessons can betaught as part of a range ofsubjects, including English lit-erature, citizenship, drama,and geography. The resourceshelp students understand“emotional health” as it re-lates to them, their friends,family and peers. The lessonsalso help students identifycoping strategies for stressfulor difficult situations theymay face, and to differentiatebetween positive and nega-tive coping strategies.

A key part of coping skillslearning is to understand whyit’s difficult to use positivecoping strategies, such as thestigma which can preventpeople from being openabout their problems withtheir friends and family, or theweakness often felt by youngpeople when their friendscome to them with difficulties.

By exploring the barriers toasking for help, students learnto be more supportive of eachother, as well as how to han-dle difficult situations in thebest way themselves.

More than 1,000 studentsfrom 10 schools have takenpart in the testing of the DEALprogramme, which cover sub-jects across emotional health,

listening skills, stress, bully-ing, self-harm, depressionand suicide.

Volunteers at the 202Samaritans branches aroundthe UK and Ireland will alsobecome familiar with DEALand they will continue to takean active role in their localschools. Volunteers can alsodeliver DEAL with teachersand Samaritans branches willcontinue to have an ongoingrole with their local schools asSamaritans’ work in schoolswith the DEAL programmewill develop and grow. Theprogramme is sustainableand will help improve theemotional health of childrenwell into the future.

DEAL includes exercises forpromoting emotional healthin other curriculum areas,such as citizenship, Englishand physical education.DEAL’s whole school ap-proach, involving all mem-bers of the school communi-ty, creates an emotionallyhealthy culture – this placesDEAL firmly in line with exist-

ing initiatives such as EveryChild Matters OutcomesFramework, National HealthySchools Scheme and Standard 1of the National Service forMental Health.

Royal and Sun Alliance do-nated £325,000 over threeyears to pay for the develop-ment of DEAL. The companyalso provided expertise anduse of its facilities.

Feedback from both schoolstaff and students on DEALhas been positive and stu-dents taking part in the pro-gramme showed an improve-ment in their understandingand attitude towards emo-tional health.

Fran Long, head of personal

learning and support atLangley Park Girls School,said: “This is an importantissue which needs to be con-stantly revisited. Anythingwhich helps with that istremendously useful. We arenot specialists and these arereal issues. Having lots ofeasy materials to use - it’sgreat.”

The development of theDEAL project was supportedby a group consisting of 65people from more than 35 dif-ferent organisations, includ-ing Samaritans’ volunteersand professionals from edu-cation, health and other vol-untary sector organisations.

Some of the teaching re-sources were also developedin partnership with Samaritans’volunteers and other organisa-tions such as Childline andConnexions.

Details of DEAL can befound on Samaritans websiteat www.samaritans. org/dealwhere you can also hear thedevelopment co-ordinatorwith Samaritans, TonjaSchmidt, explaining the pro-gramme – and DannyMcNamara talking aboutproblems he faced in youngerlife and turning to Samaritansfor support.

Fifty per cent of children with emotionalproblems when aged 10 still have them

when aged 15 years old


Alcohol

No to superheroesAlcohol makes you feel invin-cible when you are most vul-nerable says a hard-hittingnew campaign which willurge young people to knowtheir limits when they have adrink.

The new alcohol ad cam-paign will illustrate a series ofdifferent scenarios whereyoung people, thinking theyare “superheroes” while drunk,take risks with their healthand safety, for example,falling off high scaffolding,walking home alone, runninginto a busy road, getting intofights and coming to seriousharm.

The joint Department ofHealth and the Home Officecampaign primarily aims toencourage 18 to 24 year oldsto drink responsibly and beaware of the possible seriousconsequences of drinking toexcess.

However, the campaign isalso designed to appeal to aslightly younger age group,which research suggests mayalready be drinking illegally. Itis hoped it may be possible toinfluence their future drinkinghabits if messages are target-ed to them earlier.

Latest figures show that:• Seventy per cent of peak

timeA & E admissions are alcohol related

• One in three reported rapeshappens when the victimhas been drinking

• Around half of all violentcrime is alcohol related

• Figures show that for 16 to24 year olds in England, 33per cent of men drank morethan eight units on at leastone day and 24 per cent ofwomen drank more thansix units on at least one day

• Younger people are likelyto drink heavily - 48 percent of males and 39 percent of females aged 16 to24 drink above the dailyrecommendations.

The Know Your Limits cam-paign started in October witha thought provoking TV ad-vert. Advertising was spreadacross cinema, radio, maga-zines and online throughoutNovember.

Public Health MinisterCaroline Flint said: “InEngland it is estimated that5.9 million people drink to getdrunk. Males and femalesaged 18 to 24 are our priorityin this campaign as they arethe most likely to drink irre-sponsibly.

“We are not trying to de-monise alcohol or stop peo-ple enjoying themselves. Thisis about encouraging youngpeople to still have a goodtime but to know their limits,and to take responsibility forhow much they drink.

“Drinking too much alcoholalters your judgement andperception and can lead topeople taking risks with theirhealth and safety which theywould never normally evenconsider while sober.

“This high profile advertis-ing campaign will support theactions the Government istaking to tackle the problemof alcohol related harm and

we hope it will help create aculture where drinking re-sponsibly is the norm.

“We need to get the re-sponsible drinking messageacross because 80 per cent ofpedestrian deaths on Fridayand Saturday nights are drinkrelated and nearly three quar-ters of peak time A & E ad-missions are alcohol related.”

Home Office Minister VernonCoaker said: “We all have theright to enjoy a few drinkswith friends and family but indoing so we have a duty ofcare to behave responsiblyand not risk the safety andwellbeing of ourselves orother people.

“People who drink to ex-cess put themselves in un-necessary danger and haveto live with the consequencesof their actions, whether thatis being arrested, an £80 fineor the unpleasant prospect ofphysical harm.

“This new £4 million adver-tising campaign illustratesthe consequences peoplecould face for drinking to ex-cess. I want people to contin-ue enjoying their nights out,

but urge them to drink sensi-bly to avoid situations whichcould result in police involve-ment, injury or worse.

“The Government is dedi-cated to reduce alcohol relat-ed harm and will continue towork with the police to clampdown on irresponsible drink-ers and retailers whilestrengthening our partner-ships with the alcohol indus-try to entrench responsible al-cohol sales.”

Srabani Sen, CEO of AlcoholConcern said: “We’re delight-ed to see the launch of thiscampaign. Alcohol Concernhas long argued that mes-sages promoting sensibledrinking need to be activelypromoted and designed withspecific groups in mind ifthey are to have any impact.This is especially true of 16-24 year olds, where bingedrinking is widely consideredto be a ‘rite of passage’ intoadulthood.

“This campaign marks animportant starting point inchanging young people’s atti-tudes to binge drinking butthere’s still a great deal moreto do if we’re to change theway young people in thiscountry think about their rela-tionship with alcohol.”

David Poley, chief executiveof The Portman Group said:“Drinks companies have nowish to see their productsmisused by binge drinkingyoung adults. We thereforewarmly welcome this Govern-ment campaign which com-plements the educationalwork already carried out bythe industry”.

Professor Ian Gilmore, presi-dent of the Royal College ofPhysicians, said: “This launchis really important. If we canstart to change young peo-ple’s drinking patterns, thereis a chance that we maybegin to turn the tide of esca-lating cirrhosis deaths whichwe are currently seeing inpeople in their 30s and 40s.”


News

It’s a tragic fact that preventa-ble injury is the UK’s numberone killer of young people andthe biggest single killer of peo-ple aged under 40.

SMARTRISK is a nationwidecharity that is working to ad-dress the problem and is using adynamic new approach whichis shaking up the world ofinjury prevention. A SMARTRISKroad show visited Bridgwater,Somerset, in March. The cam-paign was designed to raiseawareness of preventable injury,which currently accounts for

the death of 12,000 peopleevery year in the UK andplaces an annual bill of £1.6 bil-lion on the NHS in medical treat-ment.

The SMARTRISK Heroesroad show saw a live pre-sentation from a young personwho had sustainedserious injuries as aresult of not think-ing about theconsequences oftheir actions. Theytold students abouthow the experienceof their injury had changed theirlife. The programme is designednot to scare young people awayfrom having fun but rather focuson the consequences of notconsidering safety when enjoy-ing activities which contain an el-ement of risk.

The hour-long show incor-porates large-scale multi im-ages, sound and lights, whichare designed specifically as ahigh impact event to capture thestudent’s attention. In addition tothe live presentation, the show

includes vignettes from other in-jury survivors who speak candid-ly about how injury has changedtheir lives. Leana was left paral-ysed from the waist down afterbeing a passenger in a car whichwas driven recklessly and sub-sequently crashed into a verge.

Somerset County Council, inpartnership with Avon andSomerset Constabulary, Somer-set Coast Primary Care Trustand preventable injury charitySMARTRISK, have delivered theroad show to groups of studentsat Bridgwater College, HaygroveSchool, Robert Blake Collegeand Chilton Trinity School.

Bob Ward, headteacher atHaygrove School said, “It is im-portant that we bring a clear andengaging message to our schoolchildren, to point out

New approach to road safety

Delegates from all over thecountry gathered in Stevenageto hear about the latest pro-gress in the LASER project.

Formal proceedings beganin the splendid environment ofStevenage Council Chamber.Richard Evans, head of envi-ronmental health fromStevenage Borough Councilwelcomed delegates and reaf-firmed Stevenage’s support forLASER (Learning About Safetyby Experiencing Risk). ColinMorris, who chaired the eventfor the remainder of the day,introduced John Vallenderwho provided a brief resumeof the project and an outline ofthe accreditation process.

Workshops focused on thethree primary quality assur-ance areas of the accreditationprogramme.

• Partnership

• Programme management• EvaluationThe 42 delegates came back

with the following actionpoints:

• Collect, collate and publish,on the LASER web site, an au-ditable database of incidentswhere children, and othershave used the experiencesand skill gained from theirlocal LASER scheme in a ‘reallife’ situation

• Organise a programme ofsimilar ‘informal events’ atother venues

• Organise a programme of‘topic focused’ events

In addition to the contactsmade, delegates left with thelatest copy of the LASERForum on CD and copies of the‘Just a Stones Throw’ teachingresource produced by theHighways Agency.

Documentation for accre-ditation by permanent safetycentres has been ‘signed off’by the steering group.

All active permanent safetycentres have been informedand invited to consider regis-tering their interest.

The members’ area of theweb site is now active andgrowing. In addition to accessto support documents, a mem-bers’ details database, andscheme locations database thesite also contains the latest ver-sions of the LASER Forum fileswhich can be downloaded foruse and copied to CD/DVD orworkstations.

The forum now has morethan 90 members who havemade themselves and theirareas of interest and expertiseknown and available to othermembers.

I Hearing latest on LASER

I Findingtoys fordisabledchildrenAbleplay.org is a toy ratingsystem and website whichprovides comprehensive in-formation on toys for childrenwith disabilities. It helps par-ents, special educators, ther-apists and others to make thebest choices for the childrenin their lives with disabilities.

Developed by the NationalLekotek Center, the nonprofitauthority on play for childrenwith disabilities, AblePlay willprovide parents, and the pro-fessionals who work withthem, access to the most use-ful, product-specific informa-tion about the top play andlearning products and toysfor children with disabilities.

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the very real dangers of not tak-ing sensible precautions to avoidinjury when participating in riskyactivities. This road showis an important step in gettingyoung people to think aboutthe consequences of their ac-tions.”

Cllr PaulineClarke, SomersetCounty Council’sportfolio holder forstrategic services forchildren and youngpeople added, “Injurysustained through not

thinking about your actions candevastate lives and mean yearsof pain and slow rehabilitation.

Getting this message acrossto carefree young people is areal challenge for authorities likethe county council, PCT’s andthe police who often find it chal-lenging to engage with youngerpeople. This road show helps tobridge that gap and brings amessage that we hope will seeour young people fully aware ofthe importance of being smartabout risk.”

Preventable injury, currently accounts for the deaths of 12,000

people every year in the UK


Buying safety

New advice and informationhas been provided by RoSPAfor parents who are consideringbuying a powered ‘toy’ for theirchildren, and in particular: minimotorbikes, go-peds, monkeybikes, quad bikes and similaroff road vehicles. This offerssimple advice and outlines fac-tors to take into considerationbefore, during and after pur-chase.

Mini motorbikes, quad bikesand powered scooters areknown as ‘mini motos’ or ‘gopeds’. They can be bought foras little as £150. Many of thesemachines are very powerful ca-pable of travelling in excess of40 mph and some can reach 60mph.

Under pressure parents buy-ing mini motos will not always beaware that they may be encour-aging their children to break thelaw and putting them at risk of

severe injury. Many of the minimotorbikes on sale are marketedas toys, however, machines withelectric or petrol motors areclassed as motor vehicles.

There have been at least seven fatalities involving mini motorbikes since September2004. There are no national

figures for injuries caused as aresult of mini motorbike use.However, of the seven recent fatalities:• Five involved children under

15 years of age • Six occurred while on the

road• One included young children

riding as a passenger on thevehicle RoSPA is concerned that the

lack of suitable recognised

places to ride and irresponsibleselling will lead to parents allow-ing children to ride on pave-ments and roads, public parks

or on open and unused land;which is potentially illegal anddangerous to both riders andother users. The Society is alsoconcerned about riders usingthese machines without protec-tive equipment - especially a

Mini motos put kids at riskmotorbike crash helmet.

The problem has becomegreater with an estimated ten-fold increase in sales since 2002,primarily due to their low costand the ability to buy online. Theinflux of lower quality cheap ma-chines and little emphasis onsafety precautions from thesesuppliers has added to theproblem.

Many local government andpolice authorities have become

increasingly concerned over themisuse of mini motos and othersmall powered vehicles. TheHome Office has recentlylaunched an initiative targetingthe misuse of mini motorbikes -specifically seizing and crushingillegally ridden machines.

Off road - The only place it islegal to ride off road on a minimotorbike is on private land withthe landowner’s permission.There have been cases wherethe landowner has been prose-cuted following motorbike acci-dents on their sites, even whenthey had not given permission toride.

On road - Any powered ve-hicle used on the public highwaymust comply with all aspects ofroad traffic law. In order to beable to ride legally on road, therider must have, or comply withthe following:• Minimum of 16 years of age • Wear an approved crash hel-

met • Have a valid driving licence • Road Tax • Insurance • Vehicle registration • MOT certificate

• European Community WholeType Approval or MotorcycleSingle Vehicle Approval

RoSPA believes that manypotential incidents can be avoid-ed if mini motorbikes are used ina managed environment, withappropriate safety equipmentand training such as that pro-moted by the Auto Cycle Union.What follows is some simple ad-vice if you are considering pur-chasing a mini motorbike:

Before Purchase:• Check there are local safe

and legal riding sites • Budget for the cost of appro-

priate safety equipment andrider training

• Work out how the mini motowill be transported to andfrom safe sites

• Establish how you can con-trol use of the bike when it isnot supervised

• Check for a local reputabledealer

During Purchase:• Check if the bike is limited to

50cc • Ask the dealer about local

sites and clubs or opportuni-ties for under 16’s to ride

• Check for appropriate (ideal-ly CE marked) and well fittinghelmets, gloves, boots andleathers.

• Ask what maintenance sup-port, and guidance is avail-able from your dealer net-work

After Purchase:• Ensure use of the mini moto

is supervised at all times • Join the ACU or member

club • Get some training • Ride the machine in the right

place, with supervision andwith safety equipment.

Under pressure parents buying minimotos will not always be aware that they

may be encouraging their children tobreak the law and putting them at risk

of severe injury

Please can Folium repeatthe RS advert from the lastissue of Safety Ed...

and place it on the backcover...

Sorry, I don’t have a copy ofit as reference

SAFETY - RoSPA · 2019-03-14 · minute or two spent making sure children are securely strapped in...

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