{"id":8408,"date":"2026-01-26T18:56:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T18:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arieltrust.com\/portal\/?page_id=8408"},"modified":"2026-03-18T13:41:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T13:41:32","slug":"about-grassing-or-grooming","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/arieltrust.com\/portal\/about-grassing-or-grooming\/","title":{"rendered":"About \u2018Grassing or Grooming?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\n<\/svg>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

About \u2018Grassing or Grooming?\u2019<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

What skills are we trying to teach?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u201cOn average social skills training programmes have reduced the number of children involved in crime by 32%,\u201d so says the Youth Endowment Fund. <\/strong>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis raises the question: if we are to help children resist grooming from criminal gangs, what skills do we need to teach them? At a conference to support new ways of tackling CCE, Merseyside Police described the problem and identified a way forward.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The problem<\/strong><\/p>

Some children see drug dealers as\u00a0glamorous\u00a0figures, they drive fancy cars, wear gold watches and parade around our communities flaunting their wealth. This perception makes some children more susceptible to grooming by the gangs that control the supply of drugs in our communities.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The solution<\/strong><\/p>

If we can change the way that children perceive drug dealers, we can increase the protective factors that\u00a0protect\u00a0children from harm. The perception that we want to promote is that drug dealers are engaged in the exploitation of children, they groom children and they abuse them. This language was developed to describe CSE; if we can apply it to CCE, then we can challenge the culture of criminality that exists in many Merseyside communities.<\/p>

This idea is at the heart of a KS2 teaching resource called \u2018Grassing or grooming?\u2019. This resource sets out to\u00a0teach\u00a0children a new vocabulary. They are taught words like \u201cgrooming\u201d, \u201cexploitation\u201d and \u201cabuse\u201d. They are then asked to use these words to describe the criminal gangs that operate in our communities.<\/p>

This approach enables primary schools\u00a0to deliver\u00a0key outcomes that are required by government guidance on Relationships Education. The guidance states that pupils should learn, \u201chow to report concerns or abuse and the vocabulary and confidence needed to do so.\u201d<\/p>

This approach is focused on teaching pupils the vocabulary they need to report the activities of criminal gangs that might be targeting them or their peers.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

How do we teach complex communication skills?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u2018Grassing or Grooming?\u2019 contains a short film that tells the story of a child who is groomed by a drug dealer. You can watch a clip from\u00a0that\u00a0film below:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t