The Military Skills Keeping Kids Out Of Prison

Reservists in Newcastle are helping to steer schoolchildren away from a life of crime by proving to them their skills can be put to better use. 

‘Prison me! No way!’ is a prison service initiative which takes a mobile prison cell into schools to show students what it’s like inside.

And for the first time, they’ve brought a military element to their educational day. 

Captain Chris Hall is an Army reservist with 5 Fusiliers, but for his day job, he runs his own venture, teaching children life skills.

Many of the things he teaches come from his military career, and involve challenges that require teamwork to solve them.

But while his workshops show the students how life can work out if you do things right, in the far corner of the playground, the prison service show what can happen if things go wrong in life. 

The children are shown the inside of a cell, and the tough conditions of prison life are described to them in detail.

As Malc Parkes, a National Coordinator, explains, it's all done in aid of helping young people build a better future:

"If we make (young people)... make a better choice in future, then that's what it's all about - letting them have a good life. And you can't do that if you start doing things wrong."

This is the first time Chris’s student company has worked alongside the prison service initiative. 

He hopes through gifting the students with some military style skills, it’ll get them off to a good start.