Web surfing schoolgirl Gabby Meredith receives award after paedophile scare

A YOUNG schoolgirl from Redditch has received a special achievement award from 10 Downing Street after she confided in a teacher about a man who may have been trying to 'groom' her on the internet.

12-year-old Gabby Meredith, from Woodfield Middle School, was surfing the web when a '13-year-old' boy started talking to her online.
But thanks to a project set up by her teachers and a website called 'missdorothy.com', Gabby gathered the confidence to report how uncomfortable she felt when her new online friend revealed how old he really was, and avoided releasing any personal information to him.

'missdorothy.com' is a website run by the Kids Taskforce charity, which uses a cartoon character and her friends to communicate a whole range of personal safety messages and advice to children aged seven to 11 years old.
Woodfield Middle was the first in Worcestershire to add the programme to the curriculum, and also makes use of the 'Watch Over Me' programme for older children.

Gabby's teachers passed the information over to the police and detectives are now believed to be searching for an internet paedophile based in Holland.

Two assistant headteachers at the school, Lisa Guest and Katherine Harvey, also received Kids Taskforce Special Teacher awards.

Lisa said Gabby's story highlighted the real dangers of internet safety.

?The programme focuses not only on children's internet safety, but on educating parents of the dangers as well,? she added.

Head of Kids Taskforce, Sharon Doughty, said that having been the victim of a paedophile herself as a child, she was particularly heartened the programme had prevented another young person from suffering as she did.

Gabby's father, Paul, said he thought his daughter did not speak to him first because he had suffered a heart attack last year and she did not want to worry him.

?But the main thing is that she did tell somebody," he told The Standard.
?I know it is hard sometimes to confide in parents, but children shouldn't feel as if they've done anything wrong, they should tell somebody who they can trust.

?The only person at fault in these situations is the paedophile,? he added.

Redditch Standard