Play helps young people use smartphones safely

A play educating young people on how to safely use smartphones is being rolled out to ten primary schools across Cheshire. SnapTrap highlights the risks and dangers of accessing the internet via their device. It is being performed by adults from theatre company 2Engage but is told through the voices of children and their own personal experiences of using smartphones. The play shows the many ways that youngsters use these devices every day to access the internet to do their homework, to play computer games online, to log onto social networking sites such as Facebook and Snapchat, and to listen to music. SnapTrap then highlights the dangers children may come across and gives them advice on how they can use smartphones more safely. Cheshire police and crime commissioner David Keane, who has funded the play, said educating people – especially youngsters – about the dangers online was a “very important issue”. “This project will stimulate further debate among young people and their families of the potential dangers lurking online and how they can better prevent such issues from occurring. It will also inform them of what to do when they encounter problems,” he added.