North Lincolnshire Teens Praised
School pupils from Winterton will be honored for their work helping victims of abuse and bullying at an event in Leeds tonight.
Students from North Lincolnshire who have been helping young victims of bullying and abuse will be honoured for their work today.
The 15-year-olds from Winterton Community Academy near Scunthorpe are in line to receive a Princess Diana Award - which celebrates the achievements of young people in local communities.
Pupil Stephanie Garratt is one of those that'll be recognised.
She's part of a group that supports teenagers in unhealthy relationships and says it's something young people need to be aware of. She told Viking FM:
"We've never really had any training about this situation and it does happen to people and it is surprising when you hear stories like we have heard because you don't think it will happen to people you know but it does and it's very important in young people these days that we do learn about this at a young age so we can protect ourselves in the future.
"It's what we learn when we are younger that obviously influences us when we're older, so the younger you learn things like this, the better. It's like bullying, we learn about that in school and it helps us to grow up and know not to bully and this is the same thing. It's not even just relationships with say boyfriends and girlfriends that we discuss, but it's family relationships and friendships too and obviously that involves everyone."
Pupil Tom Brierley supports young victims of cyberbullying and helped produce a film warning about the dangers. He says it can have a big impact on teenagers:
"Cyberbullying can almost be a sort of catalyst for other types of bullying because if people are bullied on the internet, then when they come in school it can carry on and people can say that they saw something online the night before and then it's a gateway for other problems.
"The message in the video that we're trying to achieve is that even though there may be abuse online that you are receiving, there's always someone to go to and even on the sites themselves there are always people you can talk to, like there are always report buttons and people you can go to even if you feel helpless at times."
Overall, 110 inspirational young heroes from across Yorkshire and Humber and the North East will be honored with the Diana Award. This is the first major award ceremony in Leeds for the Diana Award which sees a host of celebrities coming together at Leeds United F.C to celebrate these young people.
The Diana Award is a lifetime award set up in memory of Princess Diana and today has the support of her sons The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry and the Prime Minister as Patron. It celebrates young people who have had a monumental impact on the lives of others - whether they’re a volunteer, fundraiser, young carer, campaigner or anti-bullying mentor - they all share a deep sense of social responsibility.
The Diana Award opens doors for young people empowering them to reach their full potential through a wide range of training, mentoring, work experience and youth voice opportunities. Recent research reveals that 86% of young people say that receiving a Diana Award has transformed their lives for the better.