PC Justice visits Year 5 and 6

This week Year 5 and 6 were visited by PC Justice, our local schools officer, to talk about keeping safe – both online and in the real world. After making the important point that many of the popular social media apps our children are using have an age limit of 13, his talk focused on the dangers of talking to strangers on the internet, via WhatsApp, citing real examples of children who had inadvertently put themselves in dangerous positions. He counselled them in the etiquette of being in multiple groups and posting messages that could be hurtful to some group members. He finished by giving some real life tips about keeping safe when out and about on your own:

• Keep your phone and valuables out of sight
• If someone demands your phone or wallet – hand it over
• If approached by an unknown adult make some noise and draw attention to yourself
• If you see someone carrying a weapon, make sure you are safe and call 999

Touching on the growing prevalence of knife crime, he ended with the powerful message that ‘phones or wallets can be replaced but you cannot’ reminding us that our personal safety is much more important than equipment or money. As the children at the upper end of the school are taking their first steps to independence by making their way to school alone or playing at the rec unsupervised we, the adults in their lives, need to make sure that they know how to keep themselves safe. Please take a moment this weekend to chat to your child and make sure that the message PC Justice gave has been received loud and clear.