School releases chilling drugs gang video warning middle class pupils are being blackmailed into becoming dealers by county lines criminals who trick them into sending intimate or humiliating pictures
- Police-backed film is by Year 7 and 8 pupils at Trevelyan Middle School, Windsor
- It shows how middle-class children can be coerced into county lines
- County lines involves gangs from cities using children to deal drugs in network
- Film follows warnings from Anne Longfield that middle-class children groomed
A school has released a chilling video warning that well-off pupils are at risk of being blackmailed into county lines drug dealing by criminals who trick them into sending intimate or humiliating photographs.
The police-backed film by Year 7 and 8 pupils at Trevelyan Middle School in the affluent town of Windsor looks at how children from middle-class backgrounds can be groomed and coerced into county lines.
County lines involves gangs usually from large cities, using children as young as nine, to deal drugs over a network of mobile phones in smaller towns and rural areas.
It follows warnings from former children’s commissioner Anne Longfield, that a growing number of middle-class children are being groomed and exploited by drug gangs.
Earlier this year, the Commission on Young Lives found that ruthless dealers are recruiting children in more affluent areas and coercing them into selling drugs.
This is echoed in the film, Notice Me, which follows 12-year-old Elliott who finds himself groomed by an older drug dealer, gifting him with new trainers and befriending him, before exploiting him into the world of county lines.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=zFcl6T6-cTs%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US
The film Notice Me follows 12-year-old Elliott who finds himself groomed by an older drug dealer, gifting him with new trainers and befriending him, before exploiting him into the world of county lines
Brad Day, assistant head teacher and director of the film, said Notice Me aims to change perceptions that only children from certain backgrounds can fall into county lines
Brad Day, assistant head teacher and director of the film, said Notice Me aims to change perceptions that only children from certain backgrounds can fall into county lines.
He told MailOnline : ‘Any child is vulnerable. A middle class or intelligent child is less likely to be found by police.
‘Operations are growing and they are highly sophisticated. Too often the word choice is used. It is not a choice at all, it is psychological manipulation.
‘It is really damaging as these children are trapped in gangs for a long time.’
Freddie Wilson, who plays Elliott, said he ‘never realised it could happen to any type of child from any area or background’
Meanwhile Freddie Wilson, who plays Elliott, said he ‘never realised it could happen to any type of child from any area or background’.
Techniques to lure children into county lines include taking humiliating pictures and videos which can be used to blackmail them if they try to leave.
Other children are groomed into relationships, making them emotionally dependent and tricking them into taking intimate photographs which again can be used as blackmail.
Children not only acted in the film but wrote the script and helped with directing, editing and even composing its soundtrack to make it feel more authentic.
They were advised by experts in the field including County lines survivor Emily Vaughn, the charity Space, police and other frontline services.
Over 100 schools have asked to use the film to teach children in their personal, social, health education lessons, and Trevelyan hopes more schools around the country will take up the video as news of it spreads.
Children not only acted in the film but wrote the script and helped with directing, editing and even composing its soundtrack to make it feel more authentic
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