Monday 8 February 2016. CSH Surrey is joining forces with First Community Health & Care to promote the national Safer Internet Day on Tuesday 9 February. The day comes hot on the heels of ‘Murder Games’, the hard-hitting BBC documentary about the murder of Surrey school boy Breck Bednar that was aired on 26th January and 2nd February (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p03cgtx5/murder-games-the-life-and-death-of-breck-bednar).
Breck was a 14 year old boy from Caterham, Surrey who was groomed by a paedophile he met while gaming online. The story of how he was groomed and his murder are told through the eyes of his younger siblings and school friends in this heart breaking documentary, which is available to watch on i-player until the end of February.
The school nursing lead at CSH Surrey, which provides the school nursing services in mid Surrey, Chris McDermott, says: “I would like to thank Breck’s family and friends for making this programme. Social media is a huge part of teenage culture and this programme is a valuable resource that we are promoting across schools to promote discussion with young people about the challenges, risks and consequences of its use.”
Breck Bednar’s mother Lorin LeFave set up The Breck Foundation in Breck’s memory to help other young people to enjoy the internet and play games online, whilst remaining safe.
School Nurse Lead in First Community, Anita Lamb says: “A few members from the 0-19 service at First Community were privileged to hear Lorin LeFave, the mother of Breck Bednar, give a very moving and powerful talk at the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association Annual conference in November last year. As a result, we are keen to promote the Breck Foundation ‘Play Virtual, Live Real’ campaign which aims to promote awareness and knowledge in young people and their parents about using the internet safely.”
School nurses from CSH Surrey and First Community Health and Care will be promoting the documentary as well as materials made available by the UK Safer Internet Centre (which promotes Safer Internet Day) and the Breck Foundation’s ‘Play Virtual, Live Real’ video clips, links and resources to help students and teachers identify how safe they are online.
Lorin LeFave continues to promote awareness on internet safety, speaking at schools, conferences, to parents and the police. She says: “The Breck Foundation are striving to make everyone aware of the dangers our young people face online every day. Through education we aim to empower them to keep themselves safer online. We offer school visits for pupils, parents and staff, and we speak at meetings and conferences to try to help everyone understand these very real dangers young people face online today. We are launching our No Tech 4 Breck Day on Tuesday 9th February so that we can further share awareness whilst raising funds for our work. We are asking people of all ages to give up their technology for a day before 17 March when Breck would be turning 17. We are also hosting an exciting Silent Disco with a Silent Auction on 12th March. We will enjoy an evening of dancing and socialising whilst raising the profile of these very real dangers our young people face online every day.”
For more information, visit the Breck Foundation website.