MORE than 1,500 school children across Cumbria have taken part in workshops aimed at discouraging anti-social behaviour.

The projects were commissioned by Cumbria’s police and crime commissioner Peter McCall.

As well as messages about avoiding gangs, it also aimed to spell out the impact on victims.

New figures show that youth antisocial behaviour in Cumbria has dropped by 27.5 per cent during the last year.

Among the positive feedback from schools was: “This was an excellent workshop and very relevant to our children.

“They engaged right from the start. I don’t think they realised that some of the low-level behaviours some of them are getting involved in are serious, so getting that message from other professionals is just what they needed.”

In addition, nearly 300 young people aged between 16 and 17 in South Cumbria, have a better understanding of the consequences of drugs.

One participant said: “The session has really made me think about the things we do as teenagers and how this can affect us later in life.

“I didn’t realise you could get in trouble for giving your mates drugs and I hadn’t really thought about where the drugs could have come from and the chance that they could be harmful.”

Furthermore, 6,000 school children across Cumbria have been made aware of “coercive control and domestic abuse” in teen relationships.

A screening of Tough Love toured schools and tells the story of 15-year-old Becka and her relationship with her violent and controlling boyfriend Danny.

A new specialist project called Operation Encompass – a partnership between the police, county council, local safeguarding teams and schools – has also helped in the battle to ensure children are protected from domestic violence.

It also allows police and officials to report directly to schools if a domestic violence incident could impact on a child’s performance at school.

A report said: “Operation Encompass is designed to provide early reporting to schools of any domestic abuse incidents that occurs outside of school hours and might have an impact on a child attending the school the following day.”

“This project is providing early, efficient, trauma-informed support to children of domestic abuse across the county. ”

Between January and December last year, a total of 85 perpetrators of domestic violence and 68 victims were referred to the Turning the Spotlight initiative, funded by the crime commissioner.

It works with families to help them better understand healthy relationships.

In the domestic abuse cases referred to Turning the Spotlight, 86 per cent involved families with children or young people.