THE biggest worry facing children in Barrow and Furness has been revealed.

“Bad things happening to me,” was the top concern of children aged eight to 12, when asked what worried them about their life.

Answers included feeling “unsafe, scary people, murderers, groomers, kidnappers and strangers,” a major survey has shown.

Furness was the only area of Cumbria where “bad things happening to me” was ranked top of the concerns.

Children in South Lakeland and Copeland placed it third and it was second in Carlisle and Allerdale, but as low as fifth in Eden.

In Copeland, children named their worst thing as the “world around me,” which included concerns about industrialisation and flooding.

In South Lakeland, the top worry was “being a child”. With concerns about homework, getting into trouble, being bitten by animals, or pets running away.

Worries about Brexit, Donald Trump, flooding and a “lack of food” all made the list of things children in the county worry about.

The second biggest fear for Furness children was “people behaving badly”.

This included bullying, peer pressure, drunkenness, litter, bad behaviour by adults, drugs, anti-social behaviour, pubs, drug abuse and smoking.

It follows work by Children’s charity Barnardo’s which surveyed 6,200 children aged eight-to-12.

The results have been broken down by area for extra analysis and presented to county councillors.

Children were asked if they could have just one wish for their family what would it be.

The top answer for children in Barrow and Furness – the highest in Cumbria – was “no ill health or worries and that everyone lives happily ever after”.

Children were also asked if they had a magic wand what they would do.

The top answer from children in Barrow and Furness was “no poverty with nice homes from all”.

For Cumbria, the top answer was “no ill health”. Others wanted to be able to “live forever” or “bring loved ones back to life”.

The third answer was “bigger houses, farms, cars or more money”.

Asked what children loved most about living in Cumbria, 31 per cent of children in Furness ranked “the world around me”.

Sixty per cent of children in South Lakeland ranked that as their top answer.

STATISTICS BY DISTRICT: What worries you most about being a child in...

CUMBRIA FIGURES

1: 21% Being a child

2: 16% Bad things happening to me

3: 13% The world around me

4: 10% Others behaving badly

5: 8% Terrorism

BARROW & FURNESS

1: 23% Bad things happening to me

2: 14% Others behaving badly

2: 14% Being a child

4: 9% Bad things happening out and about

5: 9% The world around me

 SOUTH LAKELAND

1: 24% Being a child

2: 18% The world around me

3: 14% Bad things happening to me

4: 8% Terrorism

5: 7% Other behaving badly

COPELAND

1: 20% The world around me

2: 17% Being a child

3: 14% Bad things happening to me

4: 13% Bad things happening out and about

5: 8% Others behaving badly