Films by young people on how to stay safe online

Young people from schools across Havant in a still from an e-safety short film they put together with the help of The Spring

A project by The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre and the Warblington Partnership Board, a group of schools and organisations from within Havant, aims to highlight some of the issues faced by young people online and suggest some of the best ways to tackle them.

It brought together schoolchildren from infants schools through to secondary schools, from seven local schools to work with Lucy Phillips, from Forest Forge Theatre Company.

Pupils drew on their individual experiences of being online and used some hard-hitting case studies to devise short scenes they then performed on camera.

The scenes were the building blocks used to create two short films produced by professional film production company Millstream Productions.

The films describe some of the risks young people may face when online, including the viewing and sharing of inappropriate images, cyber bullying and grooming, and gives advice about what to do if they need extra support.

Jemma Corbin, an outreach manager at The Spring, said: ‘The Spring has been supporting the Warblington Partnership Board’s great work around e-safety and we felt that drama would be a powerful way to help share and reinforce their message.

‘Drama is a wonderful tool to help people explore all sorts of real-world issues and is particularly great for helping children and young people express themselves.

‘The aim was to use the insights and experiences of local children to create a relevant e-safety message they could share with their peers and the wider community.’

The films have been endorsed by Hampshire Constabulary and will be circulated to schools across Havant.

The project was funded by Hampshire Police Crime Commission through the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation, Novatech, Arts Council England and the Ernest Cook Trust.

n Watch the video at portsmouth.co.uk/video.