Brány vnímání

Primary-aged school children will be taught about terrorism through an animated cartoon. File photo

Primary schoolchildren are set to be taught how to spot potential terror suspects as part of a police strategy to tackle extremism.

Lancashire Police has made a DVD featuring animated animals in a bid to teach children about the dangers of fundamentalism.

The force's new Preventing Violent Extremism unit said the DVD aimed to teach youngsters about terrorism and fundamentalism in an 'accessible way'.

Children will be encouraged to inform on their classmates if they feel other pupils are expressing extremist views.

The video features a talking lion, who explains that a terrorist can look like anyone, and urges children to tell the police, their parents or a teacher if they hear anyone talking about terror related activity. 

It also uses the example of Guy Fawkes saying that his strong views began forming when he was at school in York.

Youngsters at Belmont Primary School in Bolton will be shown the video at the annual Streetwise open day later this month in nearby Blackburn. 

Streetwise has taught children about issues such as fire, water hazards and home safety for 16 years, but this month's event will be the first to feature terrorism. 

A police spokesman said: 'It's something that we need to be aware of across the country. 

'We're not trying to scare anybody. We're just raising awareness which hopefully will help in the long term.' 

He said the focus on terrorism was not just aimed at Islamic fundamentalists, but also animal rights extremists and other groups. 

He added: 'We're trying to introduce it to them at an early stage - not just terrorism, but any incident. 

'Children have much more access to the media these days, and we want to target them in a different way and direct them to who they can approach for help.' 

Belmont headteacher Chris Hoddle said he was not aware of the specific content of Streetwise but he praised the police for organising the event. 

He said: 'Streetwise is a good event. It's very well organised and it is always child-friendly.

'I am looking forward to seeing what the content is and I'm sure it will be appropriate.'