Youngsters in Dumbarton and the Vale are being encouraged to challenge their grandparents if they hear them using prejudicial or offensive language.

The advice is contained in a new campaign calling on 11-to-16 year-olds to stand up to hate crime wherever they witness it - even in their own homes.

YouthLink Scotland has launched the initiative as part of its Action on Prejudice programme.

Called "Speak Up", the programme encourages young people to "Mind Your Nana" by challenging their family on prejudice and offensive language.

The Reporter asked YouthLink Scotland if this meant that youngsters should "tick off" grandparents for using prejudicial terms, and whether older people were more likely to use offensive language.

A spokesperson said: "It was one of the issues that was brought up by the young people who were involved in the focus group around the new resource.

"We are not saying that older people are more likely to be prejudiced, it is the use of language, which we know changes over time, terms and phrase that were acceptable 20 or 30 years ago are often not used or regarded as acceptable today.

"The idea is for young people to feel confident to have discussions with their parents, grandparents and other members of their family and to challenge the use of certain language and attitudes."

The resource is designed to help young people safely intervene in situations where someone is the target of hate behaviour and not just ignore it.

It’s aimed at 11-to-16 year-olds but can also be used as a training resource for teachers, peer educators and youth workers.

Using a comic book style, created by illustrator Steven Ingram, the resource presents young people with different ways to intervene if they witness a situation that may be a hate crime or incident.

The campaign, which has the support of the British Transport Police, encourages youngsters to visibly take a stand by assessing the risk and using the 5 Ds’: Direct, Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, to challenge harassment and verbal abuse.

Recent research shows that only one in five young people feel confident enough to speak up when someone else is being verbally harassed.

Barry Boffy, British Transport Police head of inclusion and diversity, said: “Hate crimes on the rail network are fortunately few and far between however more can always be done to keep victims safeguarded and ensure witnesses are better aware of how to report crimes if they see them."

If you witness a hate crime you can discreetly text British Transport Police on 61016."