Students address county lines crimes
Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Matthew Barber visited Trevelyan Middle School to see pupil-led work to address county lines child exploitation.
In county lines crimes, children as young as nine are coerced into carrying and storing drugs for sophisticated gangs.
Trevelyan pupils are seeking to fight back with the production of a hardhitting film about one child’s journey into slavery and exploitation.
Notice Me! will be available to schools across the area as a learning tool to understand the risks and the realities of county lines operations.
Mr Barber witnessed a sneak-preview of the film with cast members performing segments of the upcoming production live.
One scene showed how county line gangs will promise children various luxuries, only to trap them into failing and place the child forever in their debt.
Another scene showed that, for children in the world of county lines, it is the gangs they most fear, not the prospect of arrest.
The film seeks to educate children and adults to warning signs – such as disappearing for stretches of time or coming home with unexplained bruises or odd equipment.
There will also be a scheme of lessons including videos from county lines survivors and organisations such as SPACE – devoted to supporting victims and training police forces.
Both a pupil and parent guide to county lines will be produced, with inputs from experts, which the school hopes to make available across Windsor.
The aim is to help people see county lines, not as the glamorous lifestyle sold to young people, but a form of slavery and often humiliating abuse.
It also aims to show that county lines is not something that affects a certain ‘type’ of child, but increasingly any child.
Freddie Wilson, who plays the boy who gets caught up in County Lines, said: Through taking part in this project, I’ve learnt how scarily quickly you get become dragged into to danger that is then not in your control. With the right awareness we can try to stop the exploitation before it starts.”