A mum whose son died after taking ecstasy at an illegal rave has joined forces with two other bereaved mothers to call for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) to be made mandatory in schools in a bid to prevent similar tragedies.

Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, whose 16-year-old son Daniel died in January 2014, took a letter to Downing Street on last Thursday to urge for action to protect children.

She was joined by Lorin LaFave, whose 14-old-son Breck Bednar, of Caterham, Surrey, was murdered by a 19-year-old who had groomed him online, and Sacha Langton-Gilks, whose son David – known as DD – died as a result of a brain tumour.

In their letter they say government “inaction” has meant “countless opportunities to prevent the kind of tragedies we have experienced have been missed”.

Mrs Spargo-Mabbs, of Rymer Road, Addiscombe, founded the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation to campaign for greater drugs awareness among young people after the Archbishop Tenison’s High School pupil’s death.

She said: “This is such an incredibly important issue. When Dan died we realised if this could happen to someone like him then it could happen to any young person, and we wanted to do anything we could to prevent that.

“We chose to do this through setting up a drugs education charity, but we’re limited in what we can do because school timetables are under such pressure that time for PSHE is often very squeezed.

“Having the information and lifeskills you need as a young person today, to navigate safely the risks that face you, is so much more important than all the A*s in the world. As we know to our cost it is essential that all young people are given the time they need in school to gain these.”

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Fiona Spargo-Mabbs, Lorin LaFave, and Sacha Langton-Gilks in Downing Street

Ms LaFave, who also founded a charity after her son’s murder, added: “I have set up The Breck Foundation to raise awareness of the dangers young people face online everyday, and to educate everyone so that we may empower young people to make the safest decisions for themselves online as I cannot bear for another child to lose their precious life full of potential to an online predator.”

Ms Langton-Gilks, who works with the Brain Tumour Charity’s Head Smart campaign, added: “When my son DD knew he was going to die from his brain and spinal tumours he decided to raise awareness of the HeadSmart campaign in the media and prevent similar deaths and disabilities with the Teenage Cancer Trust’s school education and awareness programme.

!My nightmare is that his death was for nothing if action is not taken immediately to stop the fall in PSHE provision.”

Commenting on the campaign, Siobhan Dunn, chief executive of the Teenage Cancer Trust, said: “PSHE education plays an important role in giving young people the tools they need to deal with the many issues that approaching adulthood can throw at them. We fully support Fiona, Lorin and Sacha in calling for PSHE to be made mandatory in all schools.

“We passionately believe that all young people should learn about cancer, its signs and healthy living, in school, and deliver health education sessions to young people across the country every day. We know that this can empower them to recognise warning signs, and seek help sooner.

"It is vital that PSHE provision is protected so that young people don’t miss out on these essential life skills and knowledge.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “The majority of schools and teachers recognise the importance of PSHE.

“We trust teachers to tailor their lessons to best teach their pupils about staying safe emotionally and physically, and we are looking at all options to raise the quality of personal, social and health education (PSHE) teaching.”

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