Informative internet drama will make sure kids stay cyber-safe

YOUNGSTERS got a vital lesson in staying safe online when they got a visit from a Romileybased theatre group.

Actors from NK Theatre Arts stopped by to talk to pupils from Year 7 and Year 8 at Stockport School and to give them a performance of The Net.

The play highlights the dangers children can be exposed to by forming online friendships with people they do not know, which can lead to grooming and cyberbullying.

Artistic director Kerry Day, who wrote the play said: “So many young people these days are using the internet and more specifically social media to converse online with people they don’t know, and they are getting younger.

“The cyber world is an amazing place and we want to keep our young people safe when they enter the online world.

“The Net tells a real story and we hope that the young people watching the play can identify with the characters they see and remember just how important it is to be so aware when sharing things like photos and personal information and the most important thing, never arrange to meet anyone by themselves with whom they have only ever met online.”

The plot revolves around 12-year-old Becky who ends up arranging to meet someone she has only ever known online – with devastating consequences.

It was watched by around 500 pupils who had a chance to ask questions afterwards.

They were also encouraged to identify what could have been done differently in order to change the outcome of the play.

Jo Stone, head of drama for Stockport School said: “The Net was powerfully told and the style of the production clearly engaged with all our pupils, with very cleverly acted characters with whom the students could really identify which meant they could consider how this story could apply to their lives.

“I would strongly recommend this show for all students as its content chimes in with the lives of all modern school children and enables them to step out of their own patterns of behaviour with internet and smart phone use and to instead consider their actions from the perspective of safety and well-being.”

The group is looking to take the play to as many schools in the borough as possible. For further details on please visit www.nkta.co.uk