Teesside charity urges girls to say no to unsolicited, offensive content
Rubies says girls should stay safe online
A charity in Teesside urging girls to stay safe online and say no to unsolicited, offensive content.
Research shows that 88 percent of girls see pictures and videos which they would rather not see.
Rubies, which works with young women across Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, received funding from the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner to make a new hard-hitting safety video.
Watch Ruby’s Story
Staff decided to make the video when they could not find appropriate resources to promote online safety in their work with nine to 12-year-olds.
Using the ÂŁ5,000 from Cleveland OPCC, Rubies worked with locally-based film company Wander Films to produce Ruby's Story.
Three of the girls from Rubies’ GLOW groups volunteered to feature in the film as extras, alongside a young, local actress.
The charity deliberately chose to film in key locations across Middlesbrough to give the video an authentic, local feel.
Liz Edwards, Rubies Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Since the pandemic we have increasingly found that girls - and boys - are already very clued up of the risks of posting on various platforms and interacting with strangers online.
“Schools also do a great job in providing information and raising awareness about these risks.
“However, this does not stop the girls we work with continuing to have open profiles as the perceived benefits of Tik Tok fame and affirmations through 'likes' consistently outweigh negative interactions, which may come with them.
“Unsolicited messages, comments and pictures from males have become normalised and now seem to be an accepted part of the online world, which children and young people navigate every day.
“This film has helped us to begin addressing this disconnect between what girls tolerate in the online world and what would cause them to think twice in real life.
“Some girls have changed their settings to private after watching this film, which is a great first step.
“Others have been able to recognise that the risks are more serious than they previously believed.”