The Social Switch Project - Relaunch!
We are delighted to announce that recognising our impact, the mayor of London and its Violence Reduction Unit is now supporting our next phase of The Social Switch Project, backing our work to divert at-risk youth towards fulfilling digital careers.
We are delighted to announce that recognising our impact, the mayor of London and its Violence Reduction Unit is now supporting our next phase of The Social Switch Project, backing our work to divert at-risk youth towards fulfilling digital careers.
The Social Switch Project was initially launched in 2019, co-delivered by Catch22 and youth violence charity Redthread, and funded by Google.org as they were seeking a way to tackle the growing issue of antisocial and violent online behaviour, which often leads to violence offline.
Antisocial behaviour was once limited to a physical audience, now harmful content is rapidly shared online, often resulting in retaliation in the physical world. 37% of respondents to Catch22’s National Online Harms Consultation said they have seen harm occur to them or a friend because of harm online.
We’re switching the narrative on how social media's relationship to youth violence is understood, tackled, and solved. To truly have an impact on levels of youth violence in London we must tackle the cause; disenfranchised young people operating in a radically changing world, often without positive alternatives.
The Social Switch Project has been delivered across 2 strands. Strand 1, Frontline Practitioner Training, focussed on professionals working with young people. It consisted of a free interactive course teaching the best practices for dealing with the digital world and supporting young people to be positive voices online. Strand 2, Digital Skills & Pre-Employability Training, was a free course for young people focused on unlocking the digital skills of a generation and encouraging them to use social media in a positive way.
Over the past 4 years, we have trained over 1500 professionals working with young people to deal with the challenges and opportunities of the online world, funded 40 grassroots projects across London which support and engage young people, and trained 109 young people into digital careers, and provided intensive career support post-programme.
“I’m very excited to start working on the new Social Switch Project. With our partners, RedThread and Genius Within, we have designed a new delivery model that will support more practitioners and young people than ever. We have also expanded our work to include parents and trusted adults which will allow more families to break down barriers when talking about young people’s use of social media. Watch this space for our new employability delivery model which empowers young people to choose how they start or continue their journey towards a digital career.”
Could Siblings, Cousins, and Peers Be an Answer to Online Safety?
Here, Project Lead for The Social Switch Project’s pilot in Greater Manchester, Henry Stratford shares his reflections on how siblings and peer support can influence online safety.
Social media is now an intrinsic and inevitable part of growing up as a child in the UK, with children getting phones as early as 9 and 10 years old.
The question facing us today is how can we prepare young people to not only navigate the pitfalls, but also to maximise the opportunities online in both the short and long term?
The advent of social media has brought about many opportunities, from learning to entertainment that previous generations could have only dreamed of. It has almost inevitably brought about numerous pressures and risks, from the large volume of harmful content online, to the potential to exacerbate and incubate conflict, and beyond.
Often a very natural parental reactive thought is to take away young people’s phones and social media in an attempt to safeguard them. But the reality is that although in the short term it will navigate the risks, in the long term it is far more likely that these risks will turn into harm. This is because it has set them up to go into a world where phones and social media are regularly used, but where they have little knowledge or capability to use them meaning they will either be left behind or lack the resilience to navigate the risks.
Instead, a better question is how can we build their digital resilience and prepare young people for the online world in both the short and long term?
Many schools, teachers, and young people recognise that training on e-safety led by adults showing outdated videos, is not an adequate education or preparation for young people heading into today’s world.
A world where the online world is not a distinct entity, separated from the offline world. But part of the same blurred picture, with your identity and relationships, spilled across both of the online and offline worlds.
We need to do better, and many schools, teachers, and parents are looking to do that.
The recent online harms research, led by ANU’s Dr Faith Gordon offers us a possible solution.
““I have an older sister, she’s only three years older, so I think she watched over me just to make sure I’m being safe with everything and made sure my account was private and things like that.””
This research found that for many young people, their peer group - in particular older siblings - were a great source of support and helpful in navigating online spaces.
““It is kind of annoying, because I think as a social media platform, you do have a responsibility to protect the people using it, especially young people… if my 13-year-old sibling or cousin was seeing those things, I’d be horrified.” ”
This was also found in a recent piece of research in Greater Manchester looking into youth violence, whereby young people would not tell their parents or teachers about issues arising from social media, but they might tell an older sibling.
It is also widely accepted that social media changes so quickly, so empowering recent older peers who are close enough to understand the current context means the training will also always be relevant.
At the Social Switch Project we tested this idea with young people at a Youth Council in Salford:
“Social media training before has just been patronising. Whereas if you had an older person, who is like your older brother or sister, you would listen to them.” ”
We, therefore, decided to put this into practice in Greater Manchester, funded by the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit and supported by Salford City Council. Using this peer-to-peer model* in four pilot secondary schools, we trained up Year 10 social media champions to teach Year 7s about how to navigate the pitfalls and maximise the opportunities online.
We did this through initial training workshops with Year 10s, exploring content and topics far beyond e-safety - such as identity, relationships, risks and opportunities. Then with the Year 10 champions, co-delivering an assembly to Year 7s, before the Year 10s ran the main part of the programme: form-time activities with Year 7s over 6 weeks covering a range of topics, from hate crime to conflict to unhealthy relationships.
The form-time activities are not just about imparting knowledge and mentoring, but also about developing personal leadership, critical thinking and confidence of the Year 10s.
““I think it has made me more confident. I am a quieter person, so I wouldn’t speak at public gatherings normally. But it has definitely boosted my confidence.” ”
We know that whilst social media is not directly causing issues, it is exacerbating and incubating many of issues facing us in today's society - and in particular for children. At current, we are not adequately preparing young people for social media, but one possible way is through empowering and utilising older peers.
The pilot is coming to a close soon, and we will be sharing further updates on the evaluation and learning.
The Social Switch Project is switching the narrative on how social media’s relationship to youth violence is understood, tackled and solved. Funded by the London and Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Units, and supported by leading charities Redthread and Catch22.
The Social Switch Project is piloting in Salford a holistic social media education programme aiming to build the digital resilience and literacy of young people, and the trusted adults around them, in order to reduce the chances of online risks becoming online/offline violence-related harms. It is delivered both online and face-to-face, tackling content far beyond social media, including: identity and belonging; relationships; wider risks and opportunities; and creating shared guidelines. Linking into schools and the primary-secondary school transition, at the core of this training is peer-to-peer mentoring and training. Designed in order to meet the majority of the statutory guidance for the new RSE curriculum.
* Similar to the Mentors in Violence Prevention project which delivers on a peer-to-peer model.
Henry Stratford - Project Lead on Salford’s The Social Switch Project pilot (LinkedIn)
‘Digital by Default’ in the COVID-19 Context
Reports estimate that internet usage increased by over 50 percent in some parts of the world, while others continue to experience the ‘digital divide’. Catch22 has been a part of highlighting the impact on some of the most marginalised children and young people in the UK, including young care leavers.
The COVID-19 lock-downs have resulted in the introduction of physical distancing measures, restrictions on movement and more than 1.5 billion children and young people affected by school closures (UNICEF, 2020). Additional aspects of life have become ‘digital by default’, with children and young people having to turn to digital solutions for education, socialisation and play.
Reports estimate that internet usage has increased by over 50 percent in some parts of the world (World Economic Forum, March 2020), while others continue to experience the ‘digital divide’. Catch22 has been part of highlighting the impact on some of the most marginalised children and young people in the UK, including young care leavers.
Online platforms have provided positive opportunities for engagement, however increased time spent online has also resulted in increased exposure to risks and harm. This was confirmed by reported statistics in the United Kingdom, such as those from the Internet Watch Foundation (2020) and the UK Home Office (2020).
Children’s and Young People’s Participation
During one of the COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK, focus groups were conducted with 42 children and young people aged 10-22 years, as well as 15 interviews with key professionals including senior police, educators, safeguarding experts, youth workers, victim service providers, tech and gaming companies, regulators and representatives from the wider tech industry.
The research captured their opinions on online harms and the impact on their lives, on service provision and on responses to online harms. The study also asked participants to describe what ‘acceptable use’ is in online spaces and what they thought about law enforcement’s current role in addressing online harms. Lastly, it considered what changes are needed to in order to make online spaces safer.
What have children and young people experienced online during COVID?
Children and young people said online platforms were positive for communicating with friends, keeping in contact with people in other places, for educational purposes, finding new hobbies and having a sense of belonging as part of an online “community”. Some young people, in particular those who identify as LGBTQI, felt it was easier to talk to people online than in person and this assisted them with participation.
Cyberbullying, threats, harassment, unwanted contact, unwanted content, negative consequences for mental health, the “toxic” nature of interactions and content, the lack of boundaries and the nature of restrictions for adults and youth, as well as the levels of surveillance, were some of the negative aspects identified by children and young people:
“I don’t think I know one person who hasn’t had something bad go on online.”
Young people questioned the safety of platforms and placed emphasis on the companies to address these issues:
“Like if the platforms are safe and that, how does child porn get on to platforms, and how does the grooming happen and that?”
The emphasis placed on the platforms to take responsibility was a consistent theme in the focus groups with children and young people.
Children and young people asserted that the current system of self-regulation clearly hasn’t been working and that more was required to ensure online spaces were safe and positive for children and young people.
Regulation not a panacea
Regulation and the creation of a regulatory framework has been the central focus throughout the discussions and debates in the United Kingdom. The proposed legislative framework of the draft Online Safety Bill, includes details of an independent regulator.
Regulation however is not a panacea. It will not address each and every aspect of online harm. It is one aspect in an array of required measures, including education, the need to address social inequalities, the need for transparency by companies and partnership work and a recognition and respect of the rights children have under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989.
‘Grey areas’ that exist pose challenges. Policy professionals interviewed for this study felt that a distinction should be made in relation to extreme harms and the more “grey areas” that exist. Grouping all online harms together to provide broad responses would not work in practice.
Rather, policy professional interviewed advocate for a principles-based approach in devising a legislative framework, which would be more likely to adapt to the ever-changing nature of tech and the new kinds of harms that may emerge in the future.
Ethics and ethical professional practices have been missing from the discussions. In other aspects such as mainstream media regulation, professional ethical guidelines for industry exist and professionals can be held to account in relation to these.
Education is also key. Children and young people feel that the education and training they receive on online safety is “outdated” and does not keep up with latest developments. Better innovation in education is important, including the development of a clear and effective education system for adults, as well as for children and young people.
Children and young people suggested that peer-led training and different formats including interactive videos and keeping information up to date, are essential for education and learning for children, young people and adults.
A discussion of children’s rights in the digital environment has largely been missing from UK policy discussions. Children and young people in this study wanted to be better informed about their rights online and they feel that this was closely related to “acceptable use” and consent.
What can a children’s rights-based approach offer?
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, which the United Kingdom signed up to, was drafted long before the digital environment that we know and use today.
In recognising this, the UN Committee produced the UN General Comment on Children’s Rights and Digital Environment, published in March 2021 (General Comment, No. 25). It offers up-to-date guidance and recommendations on aspects such as children’s rights to privacy, non-discrimination, protection, education and play.
A rights-based approach to decision-making can be extremely beneficial in the discussions about online harms, online safety and proposals. The General Comment Number 25 outlines how States parties should implement the Convention in relation to the digital environment. It also sets out clear guidance on how legislation, policies and other measures can be fully compliant with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocols, in order to fully promote and fulfil all of the rights children have in the digital age.
Below are some examples drawn from the General Comment:
Best interests
States parties should ensure that, in all actions regarding the provision, regulation, design, management and use of the digital environment, the best interests of every child is a primary consideration (General Comment, No. 25).
Design and Development of legislation: Participation
When developing legislation, policies, programmes, services and training on children’s rights in relation to the digital environment, States parties should involve all children, listen to their needs and give due weight to their views. They should ensure that digital service providers actively engage with children, applying appropriate safeguards, and give their views due consideration when developing products and services (General Comment, No. 25).
States parties should review, adopt and update national legislation in line with international human rights standards, to ensure that the digital environment is compatible with the rights set out in the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto. Legislation should remain relevant, in the context of technological advances and emerging practices (General Comment, No. 25).
They should mandate the use of child rights impact assessments to embed children’s rights into legislation, budgetary allocations and other administrative decisions relating to the digital environment and promote their use among public bodies and businesses relating to the digital environment (General Comment, No. 25).
Redress and Remedy
States parties should ensure that the mandates of national human rights institutions and other appropriate independent institutions cover children’s rights in the digital environment and that they are able to receive, investigate and address complaints from children and their representatives. Where independent oversight bodies exist to monitor activities in relation to the digital environment, national human rights institutions should work closely with such bodies on effectively discharging their mandate regarding children’s rights (General Comment, No. 25).
Businesses should respect children’s rights and prevent and remedy abuse of their rights in relation to the digital environment. States parties have the obligation to ensure that businesses meet those responsibilities (General Comment, No. 25).
Suggestions by young people in our study include:
children and young people leading panels;
meaningful involvement in consultation and design of platforms and products;
emphasis on company responsibility and being held to account for actions or inaction;
education on rights and on navigating terms and conditions for platforms and products in the digital environment.
A children’s rights-based framework has a lot to offer, and policymakers working in the online harms and online safety spaces in the UK should be encouraged to urgently engage with it.
Find out more:
Watch Dr Gordon’s Keynote speech in full.
Find out more about Catch22’s work to tackle online harms.
Read a recent blog on Children’s and Young People’s Experiences of Online Harm: Perspectives on Policing.
Resources:
Archbold, L, Verdoodt, V., Gordon, F. and Clifford, D. (2021) ‘Children’s Privacy in Lockdown: Intersections between Privacy, Participation and Protection Rights in a Pandemic’, Law, Technology and Humans, 3(1), pp. 18-34, https://lthj.qut.edu.au/article/view/1803
Gordon, F. and Cochrane, J. (2020) ‘Submission in Response to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Call for Comments on the General Comment on Children’s Rights in Relation to the Digital Environment’, November 2020, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/GCChildrensRightsRelationDigitalEnvironment.aspx?mc_cid=25c645450b&mc_eid=2d4eeed250
Forthcoming: Gordon, F. (2021) Online Harms Experienced by Children and Young People: ‘Acceptable Use’ and Regulation. London: Catch22.
Verdoodt, V., Fordye, R., Archbold, L., Gordon, F. and Clifford, D. (2021) ‘Esports and Platforming of Children’s Play during COVID-19’, International Journal of Children’s Rights. Contact author for a copy: Faith.Gordon@anu.edu.au
Children’s and Young People’s Experiences of Online Harm: Perspectives on Policing
Following the ongoing online harms research conducted by Catch22, with Dr Faith Gordon, here we share the initial findings on Children’s and Young People’s Experiences of Online Harm: Perspectives on Policing.
Following our ongoing online harms research, here we share the initial findings on Children’s and Young People’s Experiences of Online Harm: Perspectives on Policing.
Dr Faith Gordon was invited by the Metropolitan Police UK to present to over 220 police officers at a youth based professional conference online. The paper entitled, ‘Children’s and Young People’s Experiences of Online Harm: Perspectives on Policing’, was presented on 16 March 2021.
Kristina Andrulyte from The Social Switch Project also shared the developments made to the project’s frontline professionals’ training, aimed at anyone working directly with young people and needing to upskill in the understanding of social media and how it is used by children and young people.
“This was a conference for all officers working in youth roles within the Metropolitan Police Service. I really wanted to have Dr Gordon come along and speak because I think that it is so important that we have some data behind the thoughts and opinions and experiences we have with young people. I think that that the science behind the doing is really important also so that we are heading the right direction and doing the right things.
Keyur Patel, Conference Organiser
Youth Strategy, Engagement & Schools for Metropolitan Police Service
In the UK, discussions about introducing a new regulatory framework for online companies to target a range of illegal or harmful content affecting users, has been on the agenda for quite some time. The proposed Online Safety Bill would end “self-regulation” and place legal and practical responsibility on online companies.
As part of Catch22’s research, children and young people were asked what they thought about change and they collectively felt that an “independent” system would be better than the current arrangements, which clearly are not working.
COVID-19 Context
More than 1.5 billion children and young people have been affected by school closures worldwide (UNICEF, 2020). While children and young people have reported that online spaces are positive for educational purposes, for social interactions, hobbies and combatting loneliness during the lockdowns, they also reported the increase in negative experiences online.
This is backed up by the reported statistics in the UK. The Internet Watch Foundation (2020) reported that in the 11 weeks from 23 March 2020, its phoneline logged 44,809 reports of images compared with 29,698 the previous year. UK Home Office data illustrates 17,699 online child sex offences recorded by police in England and Wales between April and September 2020. Demonstrating an increase of 15,183 for same period in 2019.
Catch22 Online Harms Consultation
The Catch22 Online Harms Consultation was launched in June 2020 and received survey responses from 22 young people, 75 frontline professionals, from tech platforms and from Commissioners on the challenges of online harms.
The findings indicated that more than 70% of young people have seen content online that they’ve found concerning, referring to specific violent and explicit content and that only 40% of young people report online harms to the platforms they are using.
Children and Young People’s Voices
This study aimed to better understand children’s and young people’s experiences of online platforms, social media platforms, apps and gaming.
It also sought their opinions on online harms and the impact on their lives, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. It asked them to describe what ‘acceptable use’ is in online spaces and what they thought about law enforcement’s current role in addressing online harms and what changes are needed to make online spaces safer.
Focus groups and interviews were conducted with 42 children and young people aged 10-22 years. 15 qualitative interviews were conducted, with key stakeholders and professionals, including senior police, educators, safeguarding experts, youth workers, victim service providers, tech and gaming companies, regulators and representatives from the wider tech industry.
The study also involved analysis of quantitative data from service providers pre-pandemic and during the UK lockdowns on service provisions, referrals and engagement with police.
Young Voices on the impact of harm online
Children and young people spoke of the prevalence of “bad” experiences: “I don’t think I know one person who hasn’t had something bad go on online” (Young Person, Focus Group 7).
Online harms experienced by children and young people included unwanted content and unwanted contact:
““[watching a video of] someone who had committed suicide on [the platform].””
““I feel like people text a lot of stuff saying, ‘kill yourself’.””
Views on Police Responses
Young people generally felt that if harm was of a severe nature then “the police need to get involved” (Young Person, Focus Group). In focus groups, examples which would require police involvement included children and young people being threatened, groomed, being harassed and targeted.
Some young people felt that the police should be doing more to closely monitor social media platforms and other platforms:
““I think that police should look over what they’re doing, I think seeing how they can actually improve the safety, because there is quite a lot of stuff which you do see now and then which makes you think, this should not be on Instagram.””
Children and young people suggested that more police should facilitate education initiatives focused on issues surrounding online harms:
“ “Maybe get more police in schools and colleges raising it. When I was in school, we had one policeman talk about being safe online, but he just went on about what you can and can’t do.””
Young people described phone removals by the police in the course of investigating alleged crime. Young people raised a number of concerns about timescales in returning the phone and the types of information extracted and used.
Young people stressed the need for the police to fully explain to a young person what will be happening with their device and how long they will require it for:
““I think if you are going to talk to police, just make sure that if they are going to take someone’s phone, it’s absolutely necessary and that they communicate what they’ll be going on on the phone. So it’s not just, “we need your phone”. It’s, “we’ll only be going through your interactions with this person.”’”
What did Policing Professionals say?
Police described how the volume of harmful material and the reported incidents of online harm, have increased substantially during the COVID-19 lockdowns:
““The volume of material that’s now out there is just I think beyond most people’s comprehension.””
Police felt that there were “knowledge gaps”, which training such as Catch22’s Social Switch Training were essential in addressing:
““I really feel like there was that knowledge gap for myself, and obviously … my colleagues as well.””
““Bespoke training … with the Social Switch … these kinds of partnerships are really important because they help us keep abreast of stuff that we maybe wouldn’t have the time to do learning and development-wise, just to see what’s happening, what’s changing in the world and how we can keep up with that.””
Frontline officers who work with communities on a daily basis felt that the design of the Social Switch Training, which has young people’s insight and input, was a unique and valuable approach:
““I know Social Switch, there’s a lot of conversations with young people as well to inform their training.””
During the MET conference discussions, in responding to young people’s concerns about timescales for returning their mobile phones, conference participants reported that the MET have set up an initiative to address these concerns.
Conclusion
Youth engagement should be at the heart of the approach of the police, when addressing all online harms and in working on prevention strategies and educational responses.
Reporting Process: Children and young people wanted a swifter and simpler process for reporting online harms and they wanted to be given all of the information in an accessible manner.
Information Sharing: Professionals interviewed described the need for information sharing between agencies, organisations and victims. They also stressed the need for tech companies to share information about their capabilities to address online harms.
Education and Training: Children and young people wanted police to involve them in the design and delivery of better education programmes in schools on online safety. The police professionals described clear “gaps” in knowledge and those that had completed training with the Social Switch Programme advocated for widespread training of all police.
Ongoing Research: The police and tech companies should be open to be involved in ongoing and new independent academic research, in order for new knowledge to be generated and an informed evidence-base to be developed. This would assist with evidence-based change.
The full report from Catch22’s Children and Young People: Acceptable Use research will be released later in 2021.
Find out more about our upcoming research
Learn about The Social Switch Project
Read our recent blog on our four principles for a “Good Web”