Keeping children safe online is a very serious issue all parents face. Striking the balance between allowing their children freedom to become familiar with platforms that dominate our increasingly tech-centred world and keeping these innocent young people safe can place pressure on parents, especially when taking into consideration the frighteningly confronting statistics around the prolific nature of online grooming.
Former Hollyoaks star Jamie Lomas sat down with HELLO! ahead of the release of Snapcatch, a short film that aims to raise awareness around online grooming in an effort to keep children safe from the dangers that the internet and social media can pose.
The NSPCC announced in 2023 that there had been an 82% rise in online grooming crimes against children in the last five years, making Jamie's film more pertinent than ever. A parent himself, Jamie had son Billy, 18, and daughter Polly, 12, at the forefront of his mind when he embarked on the project.
© GettyThe film's roots
It was in the 2020 lockdown, when children were spending more time than ever on the internet, that Jamie learned of the startingly statistics around online grooming of children. "Me, Sean [Glynn] and Rebecca [Clare Evans], we made Lead Belly. It was a film about our armed forces that live on the streets, that struggle with PTSD. We like to do issue-based stories and we had some real success with it," he tells us.
"Someone mentioned to me that online grooming had risen 82 percent during lockdown, [it was] the prime time for groomers to get children, whilst they're at home, sat on their devices. I was just horrified."
© GettyJamie knew that this issue was not one he could stay quiet on. "I was like, 'We need to do something about this'. That's where the idea of the film was born. We need to try and do what we can to help children in this situation because obviously, children are so naive," Jamie says. "They think they're grown up and they know everything, as did I as a child, but we live in a completely different generation now. Unfortunately for them, the internet is part of their life and while it has some amazing and extremely positive benefits, it also has a dark side to it."
© GettyThe reality of online grooming
The thing about online grooming that became most apparent to Jamie when making the film was the level of deception that perpetrators will go to. "Not everybody is who they say they are and it can be a very dangerous place," Jamie says. "These people who are groomers, they are not daft. They do it for years on some occasions...and that is a scary scary thought.
"The NSPCC announced in 2023 that there had been an 82% rise in online grooming crimes against children in the last five years, making Jamie's film more pertinent than ever."
"They are clever with the questions," the former EastEnders star continues. "They'll be like, 'Oh I see you like Manchester United. I'm a Manchester United fan, who's your favourite player?' and they gain their trust. It can be done over years, and that, as a parent, is a really scary thought."
© GettyTaking the film to schools
Before the film gets released more widely, Jamie is passionate about getting it into schools and making it part of the national curriculum around online safety. He explains that he and the Snapcatch team took it to 10 schools as a pilot scheme to see how it was received. "The response was phenomenal," Jamie reveals. "The kids were just like, 'Wow'. We interviewed some of them afterward and they were saying, 'We need to be careful online, not everybody is saying who they are'."
Part of Jamie's aim to get the film in front of as many school children as possible was a first screening where adults who work in education were able to view the film. Jamie tells us: "At the moment we're in the early process and we want to get it in front of the school boards. We had a screening the other night and the response was phenomenal."
© Tom WernerBuilding the film into the curriculum
The actor explains his hopes for working with the schools to make this film accessible to children as he recognises that if it isn't built into the curriculum and played in the classrooms, it is likely that many children simply will not see it. "Our ethos is if we can help one child or one person, we've done an amazing job," he says.
"We hooked up with a charity called Make Life Kind and also Milk Education and they go into the schools and do talks. We've devised a lesson plan between us and hope to make it part of the [national] curriculum because we feel it's completely necessary.
© GettyFacing this issue as a parent
"It's very difficult for parents, I completely understand," he continues. "Myself included, I didn't grow up with this technology, and policing it is very difficult. This film is not just for children, we want parents to see it as well so they are aware of potential dangers."
As a parent, Jamie is familiar with the tricky balance between allowing children the freedom to use online platforms and keeping them safe whilst doing so. "It's so hard because my daughter is nearly 13 and you don't want to be the parent who is like, 'You're not allowed it and everybody else is'," he says. But he warns that children as young as six or seven are being allowed to use social media and not only is it illegal, as the current legal age for social media use stands at 13, but it is dangerous.
© Instagram"You know how innocent kids are. It wouldn't even enter their sphere that someone bad out there is trying to hurt them, because they are vulnerable," he explains. "It's our jobs as parents to say,' This is the potential, this is what can happen'."
Peter and Junior Andre got involved
© GettyA fellow parent who was instrumental in creating this film was Jamie's friend and fellow actor Peter Andre who starred in the film alongside his 18-year-old son Junior. Jamie recalls: "I contacted my friend Peter and spoke to him about it as a parent. I knew Junior was really interested in acting as well. I told him the statistics and he was horrified. He said, 'I really want to get involved and see if we can help'."
© GettyJamie looks forward to the impact Peter and Junior will make in this film, which has a 10-minute and a 15-minute version to cater to the attention spans of children of all ages. "Peter and Junior are both great in the film," he reveals. "Niamh Blackshaw is also in it who I worked with on Hollyoaks so we have got a few recognisable faces in it. I've worked with Peter before…it was great. They're such lovely people and just want to do good."
© GettyA message for parents
The former I'm a Celeb star has learned even more about the importance of communication between parents and their children through making this film. "We are so quick to shout at our kids…and that is going to scare them," he says. "They will think twice about going to a parent to speak to them and I now think we just have to talk to them on [the same] level."
© GettyThe hope is that this film will encourage parents to keep those lines of communication with their children open, as well as to show children the serious reality of online grooming. Jamie tells us: "Hopefully we can make a difference."
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Learn more about Snapcatch: https://www.makelifekind.co.uk/snapcatch
