A student from Harrow College has been involved in a national campaign for a leading children's charity aimed at protecting Deaf children.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) recently commissioned the production of a website video to promote their PANTS campaign – aimed at safeguarding vulnerable Deaf children.
The campaign uses the acronym 'PANTS' as an easy way for parents to explain the Underwear Rule to their child:
- Privates are private
- Always remember your body belongs to you
- No means no
- Talk about secrets that upset you
- Speak up, someone can help
The NSPCC asked for young Deaf people to be involved in the production. Harrow College, who work in partnership with the NSPCC on safeguarding for Deaf children, nominated student Kathrene Borland who was keen to volunteer.
Kathrene, a Deaf Media student, attended initial research meetings where the issues, storyboarding, casting and crew were discussed. The film was to be produced by Liverpool Street Productions with Deaf director Bim Ajadi. In February, Kathrene spent two days in Bromley as a runner on the set of the production. The group had another post-production meeting at the NSPCC Camden offices in March and the video was finally edited and launched on the NSPCC website on 6th May 2015.
Click to watch 'guide for deaf children' video
A proud Kathrene said "The PANTS campaign is a really important message for children, so for the NSPCC to focus on Deaf access is fantastic. It was an amazing experience to work as a runner for two days and a really good insight into the world of media. It was great working with the Production Team and I'm grateful that I had the opportunity."