Young people had a powerful and dramatic lesson about the reality of alcohol abuse.
Nearly 200 pupils from St Martin’s School watched a performance of Smashed, a theatre education production, which aims to give information and the consequences surrounding alcohol misuse.
Eric Pickles MP for Brentwood and Ongar was at the school to watch the performance of a group of friends whose misuse ends in tragedy.
The performance on Thursday morning was followed by a workshop where the Year 8 pupils could question the decisions of the characters, their motivations and how they could change the outcome of the story.
Chris Simes, from the Smashed programme, said: “Drama is a brilliant way to engage students around a topic and is a powerful means to connect with young people.”
Mr Pickles said: “Better education plays a vital part in tackling binge-drinking and irresponsible attitudes towards alcohol.
“Programmes like Smashed, which engage young people through drama, provide an interesting way to make some of these important issues more relevant.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here