Pupils taught dangers of sharing indecent photos

Police in Cornwall say they have seen a rise in reports of indecent images from school pupils as a result of their work to help children to stay safe online

Police community support officer (PCSO) Bex Steed taught children aged 11-15 at Liskeard School and College about the dangers of, and laws around, sending indecent images.

PCSO Steed demonstrated how young people may feel pressured to share indecent images of themselves and how quickly the images can be altered and shared.

The officer said she wanted to "send a clear message to young people to ‘say no, don’t show!’"

Following the sessions, the local policing team said it had seen an increase in reports of indecent images from pupils.

PCSO Steed said this showed the need to help young people recognise the signs of peer pressure and teach them ways of refusing to share indecent images of themselves.

In one session PCSO Steed challenged the pupils to pass an image of a sign to as many people in the class in ten seconds as they could to illustrate how quickly an image can reach wide audiences without the sender knowing.

"I hope the sessions in school help give them confidence to say no if they are ever in a situation like this," PCSO Steed added.

She took the opportunity to ask any young person that has been pressured to send an indecent image or has been a victim of such a request to contact the police.

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