Supporting young people to navigate their online lives. Find out more about the impact of #DigitalYouthWork, keeping young people safe online and giving them the skills and confidence to thrive in the digital world.
Digital youth work transforms the way young people connect, learn, and grow in today’s digitally-led world. By leveraging digital platforms and tools, youth work can successfully reduce isolation, with 86% of participants reporting decreased feelings of loneliness. But it also helps young people understand and feel comfortable about their place in the digital world, with 77% of young people involved in digital youth work having experienced improved wellbeing.
Digital youth work programmes range from online safety workshops to virtual youth groups, ensuring that young people are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate the digital landscape safely, confidently and effectively. As one young person shared: “One-to-ones [with my youth worker] have been easier as it’s easier to type what I want to say. It’s allowed me to have a quick chat with my youth worker more regularly.”
We know that young people thrive when they have access to high-quality youth work. Digital youth work simply widens that access.
From January to April in 2024, we asked four groups of young people from different parts of Scotland to explore their understanding of cyber resilience and to think about youth work’s role in supporting them.
In the focus group conversations, young people identified a range of online safety and cyber resilience issues affecting them and people they know:
Read our full report to hear impactful stories from young people about their online experiences, and the support they receive from their youth workers to help them navigate their digital lives.
Research conducted by YouthLink Scotland in partnership with LGBT Youth Scotland demonstrated the profound impact digital youth work had on young people throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
In total, 22 young people shared their stories about how their lives were impacted by uncertainty and isolation, and the innovative digital programmes LGBT Youth Scotland introduced to mitigate the negative consequences.
In 2023, we carried out a survey of digital youth work. We wanted to understand more about what’s happening, how youth work is building capacity for cyber resilience in Scotland, and how to support growth.
The results represent 71 survey responses from youth workers, representing work with approximately 11,500 young people.
Ofcom’s report looks at media use, attitudes and understanding among children and young people aged 3-17. It also includes findings on parents’ views about their children’s media use, and how parents of children and young people aged 3-17 monitor and manage their children’s use. The report provides a comprehensive picture of children’s media experiences in 2023 as a reference for industry, policymakers, academics and the general public.
