FACILITATOR TIP:

Before you begin, recap and review ground rules as a class. 

Discuss any rules created which worked well, together with any that didn't work - do they need to change? Make amendments if needed. Ensure pupils are clear why ground rules are used and why they are so important.

EXPLAIN: We’re going to look at ways in which someone might be groomed.

ASK: What do we understand about the term ‘grooming’?

Briefly, invite views from the class. Establish that, for the purpose of this Programme, we will define grooming as:

• The process of befriending/establishing an emotional connection with someone in order to exploit or abuse them in some way.

Stress that:

• This can take place online or face-to-face.

•  It can be committed by a stranger or someone they know and by adults and/or other young people.

EXPLAIN:

We'll now break this down into several stages to help us understand even more about how someone might try to influence us. 

Establish that there is usually a distinct process or pattern of behaviours used. Try to group students’ responses/thoughts/opinions in terms of the following stages:

• Target

• Test

• Trap

Use the following descriptions to help.

ASK: 

How might a young person be identified to be groomed? 

EXPLAIN: Stage one: ‘Target’

This is when an exploiter targets a young person, gauging their level of vulnerability in terms of emotional neediness, isolation and/or lower self-confidence. All of these reduce the chances of the exploiter getting caught. Exploiters pick their targets based on things like age, strength or situation. Children/young people with less parental oversight are more desirable prey. They will observe them and attempt to gain their trust, sharing their information with other group members. Typically, they will:

• Observe a young person

• Find out their vulnerabilities, needs and wants

• Glamourise their own lifestyle

• Gain and develop a young person's trust

• Recruit a young person into their group

• Mark a young person as someone to watch

ASK: 

How might a young person be identified to be groomed? 

EXPLAIN: Stage Two: ‘Test’

This is where an exploiter might try to get a young person used to their lifestyle or train them in what they're doing. They're testing them to see if they will be susceptible to exploitation. The exploiter is testing how the young person responds to such a lifestyle. During this time, they'll include them in their activities while making them feel wanted and gaining their trust. Typically, they will go through two sub-stages:

'Test' Substage 1:

• Give the young person gifts and rewards

• Praise them

• Ask to see their skills

• Give them a weapon

• Introduce them to members of their group

• Make them feel wanted

• Test their loyalty

• Relate to them and offer advice

• Give them a sense of belonging

‘Test’ Substage 2:

• Having an identity in the group or being given a more prominent role in the group (so you may have people running for you)

• Getting more responsibilities within the group, e.g. more money

• Encouraged to engage in thrill-seeking behaviour

• Asked to participate in things they are uncomfortable with or even to commit low-level crimes

ASK: 

How might a young person be forced to remain involved, even when they realise they are being exploited?

EXPLAIN: Stage Three: ‘Trap’

Now that a young person feels dependent on the group, their relationship with their exploiter may become unpleasant, as their exploiter's actual intent or character is revealed. This is the final stage where the young person feels dependent on the group, and their exploiter reveals their true intentions. The violence and risk step up as the exploiter isolates them more and more from society and forces them to carry out antisocial or criminal activity. Typical the exploiter(s) will:

• Use threatening behaviour towards the young person.

• Organise a 'fake' mugging to create debt.

• Involve them in cooking or running Class A drugs.

• Attempt to isolate them from their friends and family.

• Force them to abuse or assault others.

• Humiliate them sexually or otherwise.

• Encourage dependency on drugs.

EXPLAIN:

You'll now discuss each of the following stages with the rest of your group. Think carefully about each stage, and find examples in the story where you have seen evidence of this. Record your findings on the worksheet provided. After 10 minutes, when students have completed their worksheets, bring them together as a class.

ASK: Was Ella groomed?

As a whole class, students should provide feedback to the group, giving examples from the story to back up their ideas.

EXPLAIN:

We've seen that sometimes, the actions of others may be the result of an ulterior motive contrary to what we initially thought. Whether this will lead to exploitation, criminal or otherwise, is often unclear at the outset, so it's essential to recognise if our own vulnerabilities expose us to certain risks. If we can first identify when we might be experiencing such exposure, we can then develop safeguards to help us prevent those vulnerabilities from being exploited.

We've learned that our identity can be influenced, and we make different choices because of that influence. We've also understood that our own personal needs can influence those choices, and today we've seen that certain people exploit those needs, using them against us to lead us into making their choices rather than our own, which can put us at risk.

Do we want to understand how we can always make our own Choices?

We will look at this in detail next time.