Children learn about dangers of alcohol at Braintree College

04 July 2012

Crucial Crew has become well known to all the Primary Schools within the Braintree District and is being held at Braintree College during the first couple of weeks in July.

It is a fun way to prepare children to remain safe in a variety of emergency situations and to be aware of dangers they are likely to encounter as they advance through life. 

The potential for learning is enhanced by the fact that most of the learning is interactive.  They move on every ten minutes from one situation to another and are required to react to the problems they encounter. 

The aim is that children will leave with a range of easy to remember messages that will prompt and guide them when faced with an emergency.  The event also compliments the personal safety work of the children back in the classroom.

During the 10 minute alcoHELP session, a series of stark messages are given to the pupils about the dangers of drinking – including videos of real-life alcohol-fuelled crashes. Debby also focuses on the severe health impacts of alcohol with clips of people who have either been killed or seriously maimed as a result of being drunk or being with someone else who is.

The teachers tell us that ‘Crucial Crew’ is one of the most rewarding and successful activities provided for junior school children in Essex.  Evaluation has proved the effectiveness of the Crucial Crew event, with the session on alcohol proving particularly memorable.