Students at a college in Bromley were excited to receive a visit from a TikTok famous boyband who spoke about their experiences on social media.

Students at London South East College’s Bromley campus were visited by Here At Last who talked to students about mental health and cyberbullying.

Band members Ryan, Zach, Pedro, James and Tommy formed the band during lockdown in 2020 after meeting online.

Since then, they have gained 2.9 million TikTok followers, ranked in the Top 4 artists in 2022 and have appeared on CBBC and Radio One.

The group performed for the students and shared issues they have experienced whilst being active on social media.

The band spoke candidly about the highs and lows of social media and warned the young students about some of the challenges that social media brings, including dealing with online negativity. Band member Tommy said: “Although there are great benefits to the internet like meeting genuine, like-minded people there are also dangers as it’s as easy to fall for a fake account as it is to make one.

“If you are meeting someone online, take precautions.”

One student said that one boyband member took an interest in her musical endeavours which she claims furthered her confidence.

Media Student, Jessica explained: “I managed to share my song and I got his perspective on it.

“I’m very happy, I have more confidence now – it was inspirational and good to talk about those things.”

Another student said that this visit was out of the ordinary for the college and that it was an inspirational performance.

They said: “It was great, so inspirational.

“We don’t normally get things as big as this happening at the college.

“The performance was amazing - I really enjoyed it.”

For Deputy Principal Student Experience and Group Safeguarding, Beth Moore this visit was an opportunity for the college to openly address current issues surrounding cyberbullying and mental health.

For Beth, cyberbullying is a significant issue that students face in these modern times.

She said: “It was amazing to see the students coming together to enjoy an incredible performance.

“The key messages from the session were extremely relevant to our student demographic.

“Cyberbullying is an issue in this generation, and it’s important to keep the topic of mental health going.

“Having Here At Last deliver this message to our students has been fantastic – the band and our students are of similar ages, so they’re extremely relevant.

“There’s a real buzz in the college, the students are extremely happy with the visit.”

According to data from the Office for National Statistics in 2020 one in five children aged 10 to 15 experienced at least one form of online bullying in the year ending March 2020.

However, more than half of those children who experienced online bullying say they would not describe these behaviours as bullying, with one in four not reporting their experiences.

Band member, Zach said: “If you do experience bullying, speak to someone."

"Never suffer on your own – talk about it.”

 

@hereatlastofficial On another love…😔 #fyp #singing #cover ♬ original sound - Here at Last