The number of young teenagers sending explicit images via social media is increasing rapidly with the rise of mobile and digital technology, presenting huge challenges for the police and those that work with young people. The impact for the victims can be devastating as once the image has been sent, it is impossible to recover.

A group of Fareham youngsters from Cams Hill School, Portchester Community School and Fareham College decided to come together and develop a YouTube video to raise awareness of the dangers of sexting. ‘Sent. Delivered. Seen’ tells the story of a young couple who innocently share images with each other, but the situation quickly gets out of hand.

The project was initiated by Fareham Local Children’s Partnership, supported by Hampshire Police and sponsored by Fareham Borough Council. The video will now be sent to all schools in Fareham and Gosport to share in PSHE lessons and assemblies.

Cams Hill student, Lachlan McIntosh, said: “we had lots of ideas before coming up with the concept of a short video. We wanted it to mean something to the young people in Fareham and make it something they could relate to.”

Fareham College Director of Students and Recruitment, Gill Sommers, said: “I have been so impressed with the way these young people have worked together and approached this difficult subject. Sexting is a massive problem and schools and parents need to be aware of how to tackle it and how to prevent it. The students from Cams Hill and Portchester were fantastic and had some great ideas.  Will Watson, Ben Bailey and Dan Hampton, three of our media students directed, filmed and edited the piece to produce this powerful film.”

The students have all since been invited back to Fareham College for a celebratory presentation of the video, where they were presented with certificates for their efforts.