Our digital youth work lead Hilary Phillips demonstrates a data driven argument for investing in youth work to tackle the overwhelming issues of online harm and anxiety that impacts young people in today’s world – highlighting responses to current issues from the latest Children and Young People’s Cross Party Group meeting.
Last week at the Scottish Parliament, the Children and Young People’s Cross Party Group was exploring the current challenges that young people face in our rapidly changing tech environment.
The session was data-rich, with compelling evidence from the Girlguiding Attitudes survey, revealing the increasing extent of online harm and sexism faced by girls and young women. Over 2,500 participants, aged 7 to 21, shared insights into the challenges they encounter today, including online harm, sexism, appearance and wellbeing.
Dr Ellie Loose of the John Smith Centre presented findings from The UK Youth Poll 2025.
Key data: 14% identified social media as the biggest contributor to feeling anxious. 17% of 16-17 year olds strongly agreed that social media should be banned for under 16s, rising to 27% of 18-24 year olds, and 40% of 25-29 year olds.
The Cross Party Working group heard what children and young people are saying about the issues and some great examples of work to develop digital literacy, such as the Exploring Children’s Rights and AI Resources, launched last week by the Children’s Parliament in partnership with the Scottish AI Alliance and The Alan Turing Institute.
Dr Trevor Lakey of Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board shared about Aye Mind, a project which aims to provide information on online harms and the positive use of technology to support those who work with children and young people. Recently the World Health Organisation published a report on the Digital Determinants of Mental Health, feeding into local thinking around what we need to do in Scotland to support young people whose mental wellbeing is being impacted by social media.
Mind Yer Time is another example of a project designed by children and young people from the Children’s Parliament and the Scottish Youth Parliament to tackle an aspect of online safety: screen time! Mind Yer Time was created to support everyone who loves social media and screen time, and is based clearly on an approach that puts children and young people’s voices at the centre.
Read the full published blog at digitalyouthwork.scot.