Teachers and professionals

Young people want schools and children’s organisations to create safe environments which help them to talk about and report crime, and access support. This would involve:

• staff training on recognising the signs of victimisation, dealing with incidents and keeping young people safe
• ensuring workers are available to talk to children on a regular basis
• discussions focusing on raising awareness around issues such as bullying, hate crime and gangs
• awareness-raising activities such as poster campaigns or inviting specialists into the school or organisation to talk to children
• setting up recognised reporting procedures, so that children know who to report to and which worker takes the lead; it would also mean keeping a log of all incidents, and making sure that interventions are well managed.

A safety plan will help children and young people to think about their actions in advance, to help them stay safe. It can be useful in any situation where children and young people may feel unsafe. This can include if they are:

• being bullied, threatened or hurt
• in an abusive relationship
• witnessing domestic violence.

A safety plan needs to be about the child’s own individual situation. Help them to think about all aspects of their life, such as being safe at school, at home, when travelling, online, in the day or at night. The plan should be easy for them to understand and remember.

Children and young people should not be expected to safety plan alone, and they will need help from other safe adults, including you, on some of their actions. Professionals can work with children and young people to help them look at their own individual situation and think through the risks they are facing. 

Further information and resources about safety planning can be found on the You & Co page ‘What is a safety plan?’ and you can support children and young people to develop their own safety plan using Keeping safe, an information booklet to help your child think through ways to keep safe. If you would like a copy of Keeping safe, please contact us at youandco@victimsupport.org.uk.

Download the Keeping safe You & Co booklet