Deaf children are three times more likely to be abused and exploited than hearing children. With global internet access on the rise, victims of online abuse and exploitation will rise as well.

After extensive research, Deafkidz International found that there was a lack of safeguarding resources specifically for deaf children. Deafkidz and Litmus Games approached RamJam with the idea of creating a suite of games to address this.

The result was the creation of DK Defenders - an innovative suite of educational resources and games designed to help deaf children stay safe online.

We relished the challenge of creating 5 of the educational games to inform young deaf children on how to stay safe online. Each game focuses on a different aspect of online interactions:

• Keeping secrets
• Private body parts
• Cyber bullying
• Indecent pictures and videos
• Online grooming.

The games needed to build a foundation of skills and reinforce the concepts whilst being fun and engaging at the same time.

By referencing known concepts from games we love, such as R-Type, PacMan and even Time Crisis, the games are instantly understandable, allowing us to focus on the message, instead of how to play the game.

We were overwhelmed with the impact DK Defenders has had in its pilot study. 91% of children assessed had increased their knowledge on the subjects after one session.

They were seven times more likely to recognise abuse and knew how to report it.