OVER recent weeks, PCSO Bex Steed has visited Liskeard School and Community College to educate children aged 11 - 15 about the dangers and laws around sending indecent images to help young people stay safe online.

PCSO Steed visited the school to raise awareness of the risks with sending indecent images and educated the children to give them confidence to say no to people if they asked for such photos.

To support with the students’ understanding of the serious nature of the issue, the session includes a role-play scenario. PCSO Steed acts as a student of the same age who has just joined the school. She then receives a ‘friend request’ online from someone she doesn’t know. They begin a conversation which leads to her being asked for ‘indecent images’ which she says no to over message on multiple occasions before relenting to the pressure. As part of the role play, the student PCSO Steed is acting as is new to the school, doesn’t have many friends and wants to be popular, so engages in conversations with unknown people online. This aims to illustrate to young people about the importance of online safety, and the dangers of speaking to a stranger online.

To further educate the young people about how images can be shared instantly to a range of people which is out of the original sender’s control, PCSO Steed chooses four students in the class during each session to act as the ‘person’ she was messaging and three ‘friends’, to receive her ‘image’ (which was a folded piece of paper with ‘say no don’t show!’ written on it). The first recipient is asked to draw on the image to ‘edit’ it, to illustrate how easy it is for images to be changed and manipulated as soon as they are sent to someone else. The ‘image’ is then passed along the students to resemble an image being posted in a group chat without consent. The students are challenged to pass the image to as many people in the class in ten seconds to illustrate how quickly an image can reach wide audiences without the sender knowing.

PCSO Steed said: “It is really important to warn young people of the dangers of sending intimate photos and the signs to look out for to avoid being coerced into sending an indecent photograph to a friend, peer, or stranger online. The physical demonstration in the role-play activity aims to get the young people involved whilst also illustrating what can happen in these types of situations, and how to avoid putting themselves in danger or at risk.”

After the role-play physically shows the risks and dangers of sending a message or image to someone, and the lack of control the sender has over where that message or image goes, the young people are asked to think about how the sender must be feeling.

Following this, PCSO Steed talks about how taking, making, sending, receiving and distributing indecent images, videos or pseudo-photographs (images generated by computers which appear to be a photograph) of people under the age of 18 is a criminal offence.

The taking, making, distribution and possession of indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children is covered by the law under the Protection of Children Act 1978, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment. Section 160 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 make possessing or receiving an indecent photograph, video, or pseudo-photograph of children an offence which carries a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment. These laws are applicable to both people under and over the age of 18 who receive or create indecent photographs of children, as well as young people under the age of 18 who make, send, or possess indecent images of themselves and send them to anyone else of any age.

PCSO Steed continued: “I want to send a clear message to young people to ‘say no, don’t show!’ and I hope the sessions in school help give them confidence to say no if they are ever in a situation like this. At the end of the session, I direct the students to additional support from the NSPCC and from the school safeguarding team. Whilst it is important to do this activity for preventative purposes, it is also important to share support services and methods of reporting offences like this to the police, in case young people in any of the classes have found themselves in this position, or if they ever find themselves in a situation like this.”

Following PCSO Steed’s sessions, the local policing team has seen an increase in reports of indecent images from pupils. PCSO Steed commented: “Whilst this is a concern, this shows the need for us to carry out these educational sessions to safeguard children of secondary school age from being exploited, to teach them to recognise the signs of peer pressure, and equip them with strategies to confidently say no to prevent any children from sharing indecent images of themselves.”

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police added: “We take reports of this nature very seriously, so if you or a young person in your care has experienced pressure to send an indecent photograph or has been a victim of someone else distributing an indecent photograph of them, please report this to the police using our website or by calling 101. In addition, you can report indecent images anonymously to Internet Watch Foundation. Alternatively, please seek help and support from a school nurse, teacher, or trusted adult. Visit the NSPCC website for more information about this. For more information about the law surrounding indecent images of children, please visit the UK Government website.

“If you have been affected by crime, please visit www.victimcare-dc.org to access support services and information on your rights and how to navigate the criminal justice system. You can also call Victim Support on 08 08 16 89 111 or Devon and Cornwall Police’s Victim Care Unit on 01392 475900.”