This project focuses on the development and implementation of a game infused e-learning tool to promote health and early access to services with neglect and abuse for young people on the move in Europe. The e-learning tool will be co-produced by twenty-four young people with knowledge or experience of neglect and abuse to help keep young people self as they cross Europe. One of the priorities of the EU is the free movement of people which often involves students and adults of working age with dependents. The project aims to build an game infused e-learning tool which will allow young people from across Europe to learn more about the different child protections systems in existence across the EU to help find early routes for help if they are experiencing a problem with neglect and abuse. Professionals will also benefit from the e-learning tool as a guide to young people's emotional journey of recognition, telling and help seeking. The project builds on learning by partner organizations who have in previous work examined child protection systems from a EU context and youth perspective. Anglia Ruskin and East Anglia University examined young people’s emotional journey of recognition, telling and seeking help with abuse and neglect which was funded by the Office of Children’s Commissioner, in England. The framework developed from the study is used here to help structure the game. The second project completed by Walsall Council, European University Cyprus and City academy called Keep Me Safe centered on the development of a prototype game and was funded by the Daphne-YOU RESPOND (Horwarth et al 2010). This proposed project builds of these two separate but complementary projects with a focus on how use a youth-centric technology to primarily keep young people safe as they move across Europe and up skill professional groups. Young people will be trained and supported to co-design and develop the e-learning tool which will raises the profile of vulnerable young people as European citizens capable of knowing, understanding and responding to their own risks. The project framework enables groups of vulnerable young people to provide insights about their own issues and problems through a supportive mechanism that seeks to achieve voice, impact and improvement within social policy and social work environments. The objectives have been designed in response to the inconsistency and gaps of youth-led resources currently available to support the safeguarding of children and young people in throughout the EU and online. Key to the success of this new project is the role of 3 groups of young people from different EU countries who will lead: •Participative applied research with children and young people in the context of EU citizenship. •Design, format and content of new and innovative safeguarding resources relevant in relation to critical factors of age, culture and access. •Dissemination, promotion and application of these new resources among children, young people and professionals throughout the EU.
The Keep Me Safe project has developed and implemented a game infused e-learning tool, with accompanying how to guide, that promotes health and early access to services for young people on the move in Europe. The project was led by Anglia Ruskin University (UK), with partner organisations: European University Cyprus, Walsall Council (UK) and City Academy (Greece). The team comprises both safeguarding practitioners and researchers of child protection systems. Europe is about free movement of people, and young people are on the move for education, volunteering and employment. This project was motivated by a gap identified in young people's inter-cultural knowledge of early routes to help for neglect and abuse in their host countries. There is no uniformed child protection system in place within the EU to keep children and young people safe from harm. Although a key priority of the EU is focused on mobility, child protection systems are not identical, creating a stumbling block for young people seeking access to services with neglect and abuse. Readily available early help for children and families can stop problems escalating and prevent maltreatment before it occurs, but most children in need cannot easily access services. The Keep Me Safe project addressed this issue by enabling EU young people to discuss abuse and neglect and gain awareness of the support available to them, as well as contribute to the development of the e-learning tool and how to guide. The e-learning tool can be found at http://kmse.open-lab.com/ and is accessible from browsers and as a download to Android, Windows and iOS devices. Constructed as an interactive game, the tool allows young people from across Europe to learn more about the different child protection systems across the EU to help find early routes for help if they are experiencing a problem with neglect and abuse. Safeguarding professionals have also benefited from the e-learning tool as a guide to young people's emotional journey of recognition, telling and help seeking. The tool was co-produced by young people with knowledge or experience of neglect and abuse to help keep young people safe as they cross Europe. The e-learning tool is supported by a how to guide, which provides tips for adults on how best to introduce and support vulnerable groups of young people using the game, alongside a youth section for the young people using the tool. The Guide forms an integral part of the gaming experience. The impact of the Keep Me Safe e-learning tool is evidenced by its usage and acclaim in the safeguarding and youth research communities: the Abused no More (AnM) project, which aims to allow better integration of marginalised youth, was an early adopter of the e-learning tool, and the Keep Me Safe project itself was shortlisted for the Research of the Year Award at the 5th Annual IARS Research and Youth Leadership Awards 2016 in London. The longer-term sustainability of Keep Me Safe will be ensured through our bespoke digital dissemination package, which has been endorsed by local governments and children’s charities. The team is working to ensure that the e-learning tool is used as a resource for training social workers, teachers, border police and sexual exploitation teams and other agents who come into contact with vulnerable groups of young people on the move across Europe as part of their work.