County Schools Challenge winners launch new gang awareness gaming app

Northampton School for Girls, winners of the 2022 County Schools Challenge launched their winning idea today (Tuesday, 30 April). The victorious team designed a digital gaming app to help raise awareness to children of criminal gangs and child exploitation.

The ‘Gang Awareness’ app, is a game that can be downloaded to mobile devices for individuals to play, and can also be used by teachers to share within a classroom setting. An accompanying lesson plan has also been designed and is available to all schools nationwide.

The app is aimed predominantly at primary and secondary school children aged 7-14. It allows users to develop characters, and play through different scenarios, making choices along the way, to determine the outcome of the story. The app also explains the consequences of those player choices and includes integrated warning messages, myth busting, and advice about gangs and criminal exploitation.

After being crowned winners of the County Schools Challenge, Northampton School for Girls then linked up with students from the University of Northampton who supported the prize winning team by taking their initial idea and turning it into a fully interactive app. The free app is available for download on both iOS and Android devices.

Head of PSHE, Megan Martin from Northampton School for Girls, hopes the gaming app will encourage other schools to raise awareness of the dangers of gang and criminal exploitation.

She said, “I’m incredibly proud of the team and the hard work they have put in to launch this app. It’s incredibly rewarding to know it’s now available and can be used by individuals or schools nationwide to help teach youngsters about child exploitation.

“If it helps just one child recognise that choosing to become involved with gangs and criminal behaviour can have a potentially devastating effect on their future, I think that the app will have served its purpose.”

Detective Inspector Andy Blaize, who leads on Child Safeguarding said: “Criminal gangs and exploiters are expert manipulators – grooming children and young people by making them feel special, befriending them, and gaining their trust. Often the children themselves don’t recognise they are a victim of exploitation until they are in too deep, and then it can be too late.

“We want to prevent young people becoming embroiled in a life of crime, and the development of this app and accompanying lesson plan is a perfect way to communicate the warning signs of exploitation to young people in a fun and engaging way. Giving children and young people the knowledge and tools to recognise when they are being exploited and the consequences of continuing with that behaviour is vital.

“We would encourage anyone concerned they may be a victim of exploitation themselves to come forward and make themselves known to the police or to a parent or trusted adult.”

The winning team comprised of 8 students: Bethany Rogers, Faith Loach, Emily Simpson, Ella Haskins, Hattie Score, Madison Antell, Tatenda Edwards and Larisa Campos-Tilaks.

They competed against 28 secondary schools to win The County Schools Challenge, which is an annual project run in Northamptonshire to help thousands of pupils learn about important social issues while teaching them invaluable skills.

This year, the challenge has tasked pupils to come up with ways to raise awareness and tackle misogyny. The winner of the challenge will be announced at the final in July and will receive £2000 to put towards bringing their idea to life.