WARNING children about the deadly risks of “online challenges” and the dangers of social media begins with parents “starting the conversation”.
That’s the stark message from Hollie Dance and Lisa Kenevan, whose boys Isaac and Archie, tragically died after experimenting with dangerous challenges.
They debuted their parent workshop at Lincewood Primary School, in Langdon Hills, yesterday, as they issued an urgent warning about the risks.
Debut - The parents show out in force for the first parent workshop (Image: Newsquest)
Both their children tragically passed away after taking part in the deadly challenges as part of social media trends, and are now leading an awareness campaign in a bid to ensure parents are aware of what their children could view online.
In the presentation, Hollie and Lisa urged parents to have the conversation with their children.
Lisa said: “Let them feel comfortable to come to you, the internet is a powerful tool and it can be extremely instructive, so it is about raising awareness and having that good conversation with your child.
“It’s just about making sure they can talk, videos might come up on their algorithm, they may feel embarrassed and like they can’t talk to you.
“This is not their fault, it is out of control. They are not responsible for that; it is the big tech companies.”
Hollie added that “lockdown has played a massive part” in problems with dangerous online challenges becoming more prevalent.
She explained how Archie “always did online challenges” and was one of the first to floss and do bottle flips.
“Back when we were younger, it was all ‘I dare you’, now the internet has made that spread like wildfire.”
The event also featured a question-and-answer session for parents after the emotionally hard-hitting video was shown.
One parent asked: “I am not very tech-savvy, I don’t know what challenges there are, we just don’t know what is happening.
“Where can we find out more?”
Lisa replied that: “There are a lot of tools over at Internet Matters , a lot of helpful links. It is difficult for people trying to keep up with the pace.
“Children could be watching anything, there is no easy answer.”
As part of the workshop, the parents debuted their hard-hitting video which explains the circumstances leading up to Isaac and Archie’s deaths.
In the video, Lisa says: “Isaac was intelligent, very inquisitive, very driven, very focused, it’s hard knowing that time has stood still now.
“He had that zest of life, he wanted to be the achiever and took after his mum and dad.
“Perhaps we were naïve, we didn’t have the discussion about online challenges, it just wasn’t the thing.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article