This is a short review of the origin and history of the Keep Me Safe in Europe project by one of its main proponents, professor Darren Sharpe.

This e-learning tool is focused on recognition, telling and help with neglect and abuse experienced by young people criss-crossing Europe. It came out of a pilot game hosted by Walsall Council (UK) and developed in collaboration with EUC and SEERC, in combination with an English-based study on young people’s experiences of the child protection system funded by the Office of Children Commissioner in England.

The idea for the e-learning tool came out of research findings and practice learning which had involved young people as co-investigators and inventors.  As a result, the co-production of this innovative e-learning tool responds to an identified need and will help keep young people safe by providing a fun, culturally-specific and multi-lingual platform to understand and locate sources of help.

The European migrant crisis of 2015 puts into sharp focus the need for youth-friendly information in how to locate and access help in a new country. European and non-European children and young people need reliable sources of information at their fingertips when they are far from ‘home’. 

The free movement of worker (and workers families) is a fundamental principle of the European Union and will continue into the foreseeable future for EU nationals.