PARENTS fought back tears as they watched a hard-hitting video made by the parents of two boys who tragically died taking part in online challenges.

Lisa Kenevan and Hollie Dance hosted their debut parent workshop event at Lincewood Primary School, in Langdon Hills, yesterday where Lisa's son Isaac used to go to school.

Isaac died aged 13 after taking part in an “online choke challenge” and Hollie’s son Archie Battersbee, from Southend, died aged 12 in 2022, after taking part in an online “blackout challenge”.

United - Hollie, Andy and LisaUnited - Hollie, Andy and Lisa (Image: Newquest)

Parents were sat down to watch a short video, which features both parents talking about the personalities of their children.

“Everyone that met Arch was drawn to him he just had that effect on people, he was my perfect little boy,” Hollie says in the video before Lisa calls Isaac “intelligent, very inquisitive, very driven, very focused.” The screen then cuts to black as pictures of both boys are shown along with their ages at death and the text “Hollie and Lisa believe Archie and Isaac had taken part in dangerous online challenges,” which caused many parents watching to tear up, cry or look away from the screen.

Mum of three, Helen Beckford, called the event and the video “very powerful and hard-hitting.”

She said: “It is the human element, seeing and hearing about the vulnerability is what makes this so powerful and so hard-hitting. There was a lot discussed that we just don’t know about, I do tell my children not to talk to strangers online but there must be more information made available.”

Mum of four, Louise Kelly, echoed the sentiment about the impact of the video and the presentation, noting that her family “have encountered challenges” related to cyberbullying before.

“It was an incredibly emotional experience”, she said.

“I have encountered challenges with my own children, I do try to educate them on the dangers of these online challenges. My ten-and-a-half-year-old suffered bullying by someone on an online platform, there are some things your child does and sees you don’t know about and all we can do is try and educate.

“You need to make sure your children feel safe to come to you and always tell you what is going on, they need to know you are there to protect them.”

Mum of four, Lana Taras, wanted the presentation to go even more into detail about what specifics parents must be aware of.

She said: “Personally I would want more details, the presentation was excellent but it did cover general information."