CITY pupils are to get lessons on The Simpsons as part of a police-backed bid to cut youth violence.

Children at eight Liverpool primary schools will watch violent scenes featuring the hit cartoon’s Itchy and Scratchy characters.

They will watch the DVD clips during new one-hour sessions being piloted in Liverpool to steer them away from crime and violent behaviour.

Two hundred nine to 11-year-olds will also be given emotive trading cards as part of the Get Real Education project starting later this academic year in the hope children will realise the consequences of “anti-social and aggressive behaviours”.

The innovative project is being run by SAMM (Support After Murder and Manslaughter) Merseyside in partnership with Merseyside Police and Citysafe, Liverpool’s crime and disorder reduction partnership.

SAMM officials will hand out game cards with thought-provoking images including a sliced tomato and sharp kitchen knife, parents arguing behind their child’s back, girls whispering and poking fun at another pupil and a bottle-hugging yob confronting another youth.

Pupils will work in groups and try to decide whether the image in question is “good real life, bad real life” or fiction.

But the session will also include a short extract from The Simpsons with pupils watching Itchy and Scratchy – two characters who spend every episode trying find ways to hurt or kill each other.

Images from computer games will also be shown.