Nurturing and supporting children and young people is the focus of our working lives as education professionals and a big part of these efforts is ensuring that our schools are places of safety.

Sadly, for some children in our society that security doesn’t extend beyond the school gate, and they run a very real risk of being lured and exploited by criminal forces that lurk within their communities.

Child criminal exploitation, or CCE, is a central worry for safeguarding leads in our secondary schools. Today, as schools continue to deal with the aftermath of pandemic lockdowns that forced many young people out of the safety and security of the physical school environment, it is an even greater concern.

Before I set out what schools can do to identify and tackle child criminal exploitation it makes sense to quickly define it. The NSPCC provides a very simple definition of CCE: it is when a child is manipulated and coerced into committing crime - for example when children are exploited by others to move drugs such as heroin and cocaine from large urban areas to smaller towns, a criminal ‘business model’ commonly referred to as ‘county lines’.

Children are used in this crime network because they can be paid next to nothing and will ‘work’ for extremely lengthy periods of time. They are disposable - the exploiters fully expect to replace the child, whether they escape, go to prison or even get killed – and they are easy to recruit and hook in ways that adults are not.

Children are groomed over a period of time by someone they trust, who will suddenly turn on them. Snapchat is another common way of recruiting young people. Exploiters will broadcast images of large amounts of cash, asking if anyone wants to earn significant money that night, cash in hand.

Once lured in, the child will soon become locked into the exploitative relationship; scared of the repercussions from the exploiter, they often keep quiet about their predicament, believing they are more likely to suffer harm by telling someone.

Spotting the signs of CCE

Schools need to be attuned to the signs of CCE. These can include:

• • Most CCE victims have an extensive history of missing episodes, which means being reported as missing to the police by their parents or carers.
  • These missing episodes were usually the times in which the child was being forced to run the drugs between locations.
  • They may sometimes be reflected in low attendance at school, especially if the children are being forced to move drugs to a distant location.
  • If you hear a child has been reported missing, remember that they may have experienced significant trauma in this period. Ensure they are well supported on their return to school.

• • Children being exploited are likely to be given gifts, especially in the early stages of grooming. This is one of the ways in which they are tied into the exploitative relationship.
  • Look out for amounts of money. Children that have begun to be exploited into running drugs are likely to have some money and may well bring it into school to show off to their peers. Also listen out for conversations about pupils bringing in significant amounts of cash.
  • PE teachers can play an important role here. Is a child frequently wearing new trainers? Are they wearing expensive jewellery or watches? Look out for these signs in lessons.

• • An exploiter is likely to control the child using their phone. They may even provide the child with a new phone solely for this purpose. 
  • CCE victims may possess multiple phones – usually, at least one of these is a ‘burner’ phone. 
  • They may use multiple SIM cards and physically swap these between phones.

• • A sudden change of friendship groups could be a cause of concern.
  • Alarm bells should also ring if you hear that a child is associating with elders outside of school.
  • Be ready to ask why the student has changed their friendship group.

• • The student may be defensive when asked about exploitation. Most will deny that it is happening, or when they do give hints about what is going on, imply that it is something completely consensual or even a form of employment.
  • They may have been attacked and injured but are unwilling to work with the police or support a police investigation.

• • Children may be up for over 20 hours at a time being forced to run drugs. You may notice them falling asleep in class, or really struggling to concentrate. 

Tackling CCE and supporting pupils

Schools can tackle CCE and support their pupils through a range of approaches:

• • Make this relevant to children and talk about the importance of keeping themselves safe
  • For example, the relationships education curriculum by the end of primary should cover appropriate boundaries in friendships with peers and others, including those in a digital context.
  • By the end of secondary school the PSHE curriculum should cover types of behaviour within relationships that are criminal, including violent behaviour and coercive control.

• • CCE is mentioned in Part One and Annex B of Keeping Children Safe in Education. Staff should have clear understanding of what CCE is, what the signs are and how to refer any concerns to the safeguarding team.

• • How are staff encouraged to share any concerns?
  • How are attendance teams supported to share their concerns with the DSL, to ensure that effective information is shared?

• • Your starting point will be children’s social care and perhaps your Safer Schools Officer, but there will be other support mechanisms in place in your local area.
  • Speak to other DSLs and find out what other agencies operate in your local area.

• • If possible when there are concerns about CCE.
  • For example, use alternative provision or organise an internal exclusion where possible, to minimise the time where children are at home and potentially more vulnerable to their exploiters.

Further information & resources

• NSPCC advice on criminal exploitation and gangs: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/gangs-criminal-exploitation/
• Keeping children safe in education: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2