At STOP THE TRAFFIK, we partnered with Harshit to deliver multiple ‘Behind the Screens: Stories, Safety & Speaking Up’ workshops across Oasis academies in London. Using comics, interactive games, and creative projects, students explored how exploitation happens, learned to spot “red flags” online, and practised safe responses. By the end, most told us they felt more confident keeping themselves safe, understood exploitation more clearly, and knew how to help a friend who might be at risk.
These sessions weren’t just about teaching — they were a dialogue. We know that young people are the experts on what it’s like to grow up online. The workshops created a safe space for open conversation about how they interact with each other, their experiences with strangers, and the realities of their digital lives.
Hearing directly from students gave us invaluable insight into what being online looks like at their age — insight that will shape our prevention work as we expand youth-focused programmes over the next year.
