‎Primary Seven went on a school trip to Arthurlie Park for an educational event called Safety in the Park.
Safety in the Park is an event to teach young children about drugs, road safety, law and your health and wellbeing. It included activities which warned you about electricity, fire safety and cyber safety.
The children were split into groups of five to six people and each group attended certain activities at various times.
At one of the main activities which taught children a lesson about ‘stranger danger’, many people followed. One member of staff dressed as a ‘stranger’, advised that children should follow her. Little did some children know, there was a policeman observing the whole scenario, and then explained to the children why they should not have followed the woman.
The stations were all there to help us to make sensible and safe choices

1 Drink Station: David  “this station taught me how horrible and dizzy you could end up feeling if you drink alcohol”. Here we got to try out ‘Beer Goggle’ to see how alcohol can affect your vision.
2 Stranger Danger: Katie  “I felt embarrassed that I followed the lady who didn’t have any identification. It was very easy to be convinced by somebody who we shouldn’t have been trusting”.
3 Rethink your drink : We discussed good drinks and bad drinks for people and how some drinks are a little deceitful with their advertising. Thomas “I was surprised by how much sugar was in Diet Coke and Coca Cola Life”
5 Community Safety: Here we discussed dog fouling, graffiti and the penalties these can bring about. Ben “It surprised me that you could get fined up to £500 for dog fouling!”
6 Road Safety : Stacey “it is often presumed that it is the driver’s fault in a bike accident, but quite often it might be the cyclist’s fault”.
7 Cyber Safety: At this station, we learned about how easy it is for information to be revealed online, without you realising you are doing it. Online activity can be very dangerous and this station raised the awareness of many of us. William “even the smallest detail can reveal so much about your life that you don’t realise”

After our day at Safety in the Park, as a class we feel that we will all try and make sensible and safe decisions.
Remember to never feel pressured to try these things. Be smart and be responsible!