‘THIS threat is real and happening right now.’

This is the message from a Barrow headteacher warning parents that children as young as eight are becoming increasingly coerced into crimes such as drugs or child sexual exploitation.

Caroline Walker, Parkside GGI Academy headteacher and Local Leader of Education (LLE) has urged parents to be more aware of the ‘terrifying’ extent that perpetrators will go in order to exploit their children.

This follows what she has observed as a two-year rise in the number of children being sexually exploited in Furness.

Mrs Walker said: “My main concerns are that our town is being targeted by gangs from across the North West.

“They are targeting boys and girls and the age of the children they are targeting is getting younger and younger.”

Mrs Walker highlights that social media is a key tool being used to exploit children, particularly on platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and games like Fortnite.

“Children add people onto their games and social media accounts they don’t know to look popular and this is sadly how offenders get to children and exploit them.

“They also pretend to be someone in their class and the children have no way of knowing who is on the other end of the keyboard which makes them vulnerable to being coerced into crimes such as drugs or child sexual exploitation.

“It is terrifying the extent perpetrators will go to.”

In response she is urging parents to be more aware of the risks.

She said: “We must raise awareness as this threat is real and happening across Furness right now with children as young as eight-years old.

“We urge all parents to speak regularly to their children about the risks, to check who they are talking to online and to stick to the age limits for games which are there for a reason.

“We work closely in a multi-agency approach led by Cumbria police who have been excellent in their approach to safeguarding our children. But ultimately it is parents who need to keep their children safe from the increasing number of online threats their children are open to.”

Detective Inspector Dan StQuintin said: “We work closely with numerous partner agencies to ensure that those at risk of child sexual exploitation are identified and safeguarded.

“Monthly meetings are held across the county where safeguarding measures for each child deemed at risk of exploitation are discussed on a case-by-case basis. These meetings are attended by numerous agencies including Children’s Services, NSPCC and Barnardo’s.

“Also discussed and reviewed is children that may be at risk but not at that stage classified as at risk. The work conducted through our partnership approach is crucial in protecting children within Cumbria. If you have any concerns about a child, we ask that you report it to us or one of our partner agencies.”