Young People, Technology and Mental Health

1. Young People, Technology and Mental Health

2. Marc Prensky coined the term ‘digital native’ and used it to describe people who: “represent the first generations to grow up with this new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age.” Digital Natives…

3. PC/laptop/netbook internet use at home: • 58% of 5-7s (decrease from 65% in 2011) • 87% of 8-11s • 95% of 12-15s • Data suggests 37% of 3-4 year-olds use the internet via a PC, laptop or netbook. What technologies?

4. One in four (28%) children aged 5-15 use on-demand TV services. Most children use gaming devices. Findings from parents of 3-4 year olds indicate that 44% use a games console or player. One in three boys who play games online do so against people not known to them. What technologies?

5. Between 2011 and 2012 there has also been a fall in the number of children with digital television (25% vs. 30%) and games console/ players in their bedroom (56% vs. 62%). Data suggests 9% of 3-4s use a tablet, 6% of them using a tablet to access the internet. Around one in five children aged 8-11 (18%) and one in four children aged 12-15 (27%) go online at home using a games console/ player. Since 2011, children aged 12-15 are more likely to mostly use the internet in their bedrooms (43% in 2012 vs. 34% in 2011). What technologies?

6. 9% of 5-15s do not use the internet at all, in any location, unchanged since 2011. Children aged 12-15 are more likely to own a smartphone than any other type of mobile phone, and use of a mobile phone to go online at home has increased among children aged 5-7 (5% vs. 2%) and 12-15 (44% vs. 29%). Each age group is more likely than in 2011 to use a tablet computer to go online at home, accounting for around one in twenty 5-7s (6% vs. 1%) and one in ten 8-11s (9% vs. 3%) and 12-15s (11% vs. 3%). What technologies?

7. Social Media

13. What activities do young people undertake online? What motivates young people to go online/what do they want? Actions & motives

14. Online activities

15. How are young people participating in the digital world? Young people’s participation is layered and those layers blur Derek Wenmouth talked about 4 Cs of online participation The 4 Cs give us a model to think about how engaged, or not, young people are with ‘online communities’ A little deeper…..

17. Educate students from a young age: We need to educate pupils about cyberbullying as soon as we expect them to start using technology. We use an online maths programme for homework as young as year 2. The children have a password and create a profile and need to know how to keep their password safe. We had one case where an account got hacked as someone told their friend their password. That friend went into the account and made the avatar into the opposite sex and changed the name. As you can imagine, for a six year old that is really upsetting. We also have to educate parents. There is the assumption that cyberbullying won't affect their child until secondary school. We run workshops for parents of children in reception about staying safe online, primarily to highlight areas they wouldn't even think of – cyberbullying doesn't just happen on Facebook. Don't forget about the bystanders: I recently ran a parent focus group on bullying, focusing on what their expectations were of how a good school would tackle the issue. An interesting perspective was on how bullying affects other people, causing reactions that impact the victim even more. Getting bystanders to empathise is key and their role in bullying is something that a school's e-safety curriculum should cover. Hold circle time sessions: When dealing with friendship issues between girls, it needs to be done carefully, slowly and thoughtfully for changes to have a lasting effect. Circle time is an excellent way of doing this. After sorting out the initial conflict, you need to continue to work with the group over a longer period of time, with weekly sessions to ensure that relationships are reconstructed and outcomes embedded. 10 ways to tackle cyberbullying

18. Involve police community support officers (PCSO): One of the things we have found to be really powerful is involving our school's PCSO. A bullying incident may not involve prosecution, but it helps parents and students gain a better understanding of the legal dimensions involved. It's particularly important when it comes to addressing issues that arise when students are in possession of an indecent image or video of another child, where discussions are also an issue of child protection. Empathy is the key with cyberbullying: People need to understand they cannot hide behind a screen, computer, tablet or phone and bully others. The cyber world is part of the real world and should not be seen as being separate. The approach we adopt is for perpetrators to develop their empathic skills. It is so important for young people to be able to imagine the effect their words and actions may have on their victim. Know the law when it comes to cyberbullying: If the school suspects that an indecent image has been shared, particularly in a cyberbullying context, the device may be confiscated. In general, such images should not be viewed unless there is a clear reason to do so, such as checking the device to see if any offence has been committed. School staff should not go on a fishing expedition through a pupil's device and should always act within the school's protocols, safeguarding and child protection policies. 10 ways to tackle cyberbullying

19. Run workshops for parents: During these discussions we talk about the definition of bullying, the type of young person that may become a perpetrator or victim, different types of bullying and what to do if your child is affected. We also run specific e-safety workshops, where we look at the different ways children cyberbully and how parents can help protect their child online. Educate people about what's not bullying: We run Together Against Bullying roadshows, which are attended by the whole school community, including parents. We discuss everything about bullying, including what is not bullying, such as a difference of opinion, a fight or an argument. The problem a lot of schools have with parents is that they think everything is bullying, including the tiniest spat. Useful sayings to teach pupils: I always say to young people, treat your online passwords like your toothbrush, don't share them with anyone, not even your best friend, and change them regularly. And keep your tweets sweet and your status gracious. These are easy for children to remember. Make anti-bullying strategies peer led: At our school bullying ambassadors come up with ideas to prevent bullying and present them to the school in groups of four to six. Recently they had the idea of having a bench with cushions in the playground where pupils can sit and talk to ambassadors. They also talk to parents about their work. 10 ways to tackle cyberbullying

20. Marc Prensky coined the term ‘digital native’ and used it to describe people who; “represent the first generations to grow up with this new technology. They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age.” This description fits perfectly the young people we spoke to in focus groups and they instinctively appreciated the value of supporting people, in particular younger people, using the toys and tools of the digital age. E-CBT consultation

21. The young people we spoke to understood that talking about the look and functionality of a tool is crucial because people simply will not use a tool if it’s poorly designed and the better the design the more people will engage with it. The focus group participants suggested that in an environment where there is no direct human contact the tool has to go some way towards developing a sense of trust. There were some disagreements about how feasible this was but we feel that the use of anthropomorphic terms to describe elements of how a tool feels to a young person perhaps suggests that there is a basis for this happening. E-CBT consultation

22. The young people we spoke to felt that there were potential benefits in using electronic tools to support children and young people’s emotional wellbeing but that there were also risks associated with this. Many of the young people were already using online tools, social media, “apps” and online counselling/mentoring and felt that these were beneficial to them. Discussions about how using unmoderated websites could lead to exposure to inappropriate or damaging content, bullying, trolling and other dangers. There is a real need for more information in an accessible format so that people can make informed choices about the appropriateness of the various tools which are supposed to benefit young people’s mental health. E-CBT consultaion

25. Parents Helpline 0808 802 5544 • Booklets for parents, professionals and children and young people • www.youngminds.org.uk • Training and development matthew.daniel@youngminds.org.uk youngminds