Walk Online

• More than 80 per cent of participants say they are now better able to keep themselves safe online
• Ofsted has highlighted the Local Safeguarding Children Board initiative as outstanding practice

ACTION

In 2013, Thurrock Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) members were becoming concerned about the increasing number of online grooming incidents reported to Essex Police.

The board met with its online investigation team and school safeguarding leads, who reported concerns about pupils' risky use of the internet and social media. LSCB business manager Alan Cotgrove says a borough-wide initiative was needed to increase pupils' knowledge of the risks of online sexual exploitation, and act as a "stepping stone" for follow-up work in schools. "By raising awareness, we hoped young people might take a step back and think before they take certain actions," he recalls.

The board's solution was to devise Walk Online; six days of roadshows in March 2014, attended by 5,500 pupils from years 5 to 7 at 37 Thurrock schools. They attended a 90-minute session, led by detective sergeant John Woodley from Essex Police online investigation team. After music and dancing, pupils participated in an audience survey to build a collective picture of their online behaviour and level of risk.

Using keypads, they answered questions including ‘have you ever lied about your age online to appear older?' A screen displayed the percentage of yes and no answers. Cotgrove recalls "screams of surprise" from pupils, and shock from teachers, on seeing more than two-thirds admitting to lying about their age and that more than half would not tell parents or teachers if asked to do "something rude" online. Participants' answers helped shape discussion that followed; they were asked why they would not confide in an adult and were shown why they needed to.

Pupils then watched a video from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre called Where's Klaus, showing a mother allowing a violent-looking gang upstairs to her son's bedroom, alongside a scantily-dressed group wanting to try out "kinky stuff", portraying the dangers of unregulated internet access. Participants were shown apps and websites police believed were popular, and asked whether they used them. Cotgrove says many apps children admitted to using were unknown to teachers and child protection staff.

Woodley explained these sites' risks, describing online exploiters as "the dark web", exemplified by the 2014 case of Surrey 14-year-old Breck Bednar, groomed by an 18-year-old through online gaming, then lured to Thurrock and murdered. "We reminded them that their internet-gaming friends aren't necessarily true friends, and if they start asking inappropriate non-game-related questions, they must start questioning why," Cotgrove says. "If they suddenly get 5,000 hits on a film of them singing in their bedroom, they should question that too." They were shown how exploiters can establish their address from a photo posted online, and told how to prevent this.

After an interactive drama by educational theatre group Arc, participants watched a real-life film about three Thurrock sisters falling victim to predators through a website called Omegle. The girls used it for video chat with strangers from their bedroom, and were contacted by someone demanding a naked picture, who had received a screenshot of them and knew their address. The film was accompanied by safety guidance and a police team was on hand for any disclosures, liaising with schools' pastoral staff where necessary.

Adults' ignorance of children's online activities prompted the board to deliver a Walk Online session for them in October 2014, sparking four to six roadshows annually for professionals, parents and carers. "Young people often know more than their parents about setting up a computer, then they're left to their own devices," says Cotgrove. "Parents don't realise what they're looking at and what the risks are. We show them the apps children use, how games let the world into their bedroom, and some of the horrific things they can be exposed to. Attendees say all parents should come."

What started as a one-off event has expanded to reach 12,500 pupils from years 5 to 11 from Thurrock schools. Woodley delivers Walk Online with fellow police retiree John Staines, through their firm EST E Safety Training. Next year's roadshows will focus on harmful sexual behaviour, understanding consent and increasing parent involvement in children's online activity.

IMPACT

Of around 425 pupils surveyed in September 2015, six months after attending Walk Online, 85 per cent said they felt better able to keep themselves safe online. More than 45 per cent said they had since changed their privacy settings and nearly a quarter said they had changed some. More than 60 per cent said they had told their parents about Walk Online, and 20 per cent said they had shared some of it.

The roadshows have been highlighted as "outstanding practice" by Ofsted inspectors attending one last year.

Read more from the E-Safety and Online Safeguarding special report