Rethinking Responses to Young People and the Internet - beyond Opportunity and Risk - EU Kids Online II - September 2011

Rethinking responses to young peopleʼs online lives
Participation, protection, provision

Rethinking responses

EU Kids Online II Conference - September 23rd 2011
Practical Participation - tim@practicalparticipation.co.uk | @timdavies


“…online opportunities and risks go hand in hand: the
more children and young people experience the one, the
more they also experience the other, and vice-versa.”
Livingstone & Bober, UK Children Go Online, 2005



“…online opportunities and risks go hand in hand: the
more children and young people experience the one, the
more they also experience the other, and vice-versa.”
Livingstone & Bober, UK Children Go Online, 2005

ng
g at you the
h lookin raws on
researc ternet d g.
Much d the In ’ framin
le an tunity-Risk
peop ppor t
‘ O tin g poin
goo d star limited
is was a ers a very te
Wh ilst th ch, it off a
mmod down
ar co
for rese work to ac narrows
frame dings, and le policy
ﬁn sib
res earch nge of pos s.
the ra response



The te
researc rms we use t
we do. h have a big i o frame our
And th m
e polic pact on wha
we can y responses t
identify that
In 2008 .
‘oppor we sought
tunity’ to
focus o and ‘ris build on an
n pract k’ fram
ways y i e, but t
oung p ce by asking o
eople c ab
risk, an
d take ould na out
up opp viga
or tunity te
.



What are we researching?

Risk Opportunity




Risk Opportunity

- Risk and opportunity on the Internet?




Risk Opportunity


- Risk and opportunity experienced by young people?




Risk Opportunity



- The harm or beneﬁts that result?



Risk Opportunity
of
n ology ry
n termi k is ve n
On it’s ow y and ris co nfusio
rt unit n lead to sed.
oppo and ca us
c - in g disc
unspeciﬁ what is be
as to




For ex
am
ple: wh
at doe
really m s this m
yth
Risk Opportunity How m
any dif
ferent
ean?

interpr ways could it
eted? be

Myth #9: Teaching digital skills
will reduce online risks




What are we doing?
Policy and practice responses

Risk Opportunity

Even though EU Kids Online has
repeatedly stated risk and
opportunity ‘go hand in hand’ -
research and policy is frequently
framed around ‘balancing opportunity
and risk’.



What are we doing?

port unity
Op

R isk
Even though EU Kids Online has
repeatedly stated risk and
opportunity ‘go hand in hand’ -
research and policy is frequently
framed around ‘balancing opportunity
and risk’.



What are we doing?

port unity
Op

R isk And risk is a ‘heavier’ conc
might lead to speciﬁable ha
ept. Risks
rms that
we can all agree are bad. O
pportunity
frequently leads to an ope
ning up of
diverse beneﬁts - which di
Even though EU Kids Online has fferent
actors will place different va
repeatedly stated risk and lue on.
opportunity ‘go hand in hand’ - In risk-averse organisations
research and policy is frequently , within
protection oriented child an
framed around ‘balancing opportunity d youth
policies - simplistic approac
and risk’. hes to
‘risk’ will always unbalance
our
responses.



Working with practitioners, I’ve
consistently found the ‘remove risk
ﬁrst’ approach leads to ineffective
digital engagement and ineffective
strategies to properly address
potential harms to young people, and
young peoples’s digital literacies.
The www.youthworkonline.org.uk network brings together 100s of
practitioners to discuss working with young people in a digital world.


“Safe and effective”

uage
ente d with a lang e
W e’ve experim ive” to capture th
Effect
of “Safe and o
und
n safe-and-so h
need to build to work throug
but
foundations, with the digit
al
ment
active engage
world.
aming:
o a limited fr we
But this is als stion of what
ue
begging the q nd what effective
?A
mean by safe agement is?
online eng



Risk and opportunity based
policy & practice
rk,
alterna tive framewo
Without an actice
policy and pr
risk distorts to:
respo nses, leading



policy & practice
rk,
Without an actice
policy and pr
risk distorts to:
respo nses, leading

Blocking & restriction-focussed responses are frequently
counter-productive



policy & practice
rk,
Without an actice
policy and pr
risk distorts to:
respo nses, leading

counter-productive
Allowing adults to ignore responsibilities; denying participation of young
people in online spaces; circumvention increases risk.



policy & practice
rk,
Without an actice
policy and pr
risk distorts to:
respo nses, leading

counter-productive

Ineffective safety messages



policy & practice
rk,
Without an actice
policy and pr
risk distorts to:
respo nses, leading

counter-productive


Restriction-focused responses undermine other rights



policy & practice
rk,
Without an actice
policy and pr
risk distorts to:
respo nses, leading

counter-productive


Rights to participation, provision, privacy and other protections.



policy & practice
rk,
Without an actice
policy and pr
risk distorts to:
respo nses, leading

counter-productive


Rights to participation, provision, privacy and other protections.

Confusing risk to organisations and risk to young people



policy & practice



policy & practice

Services neglecting digital dimensions of young people’s lives



policy & practice

Missing support needs; and opportunities to develop opportunities.



policy & practice


Missed opportunities to build digital literacy for future
workforce and for our communities



policy & practice



Young people excluded from the debate or contributions
ignored



policy & practice



Young people excluded from the debate or contributions
ignored
Narrow youth fora pre-empt conclusions.



rk?
lternat ive framewo
n we ﬁnd an a
So where ca ible
een ex ploring poss
f the last year we’ve b policy and pr
actice
urse o earch,
Over the co guide our own res lives.
concept ual frames to o young people’s online
responses t inuing
m in 20 10, and cont g at
ernet G ove rnance Foru n, we’v e been lookin
Start ing at the Int k Online Month of actio hild can be used to
Wor he C
throu gh the Youth th e Rights of t ore
Co nvention on search results, and m
how the UN er con tainer for re ion.
develop a rich prehensive guide for act
com

An alternative frame...



Drawing on the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child

!




!

s:
into th ree categorie
s are often divided n
Th e convention right rovision and Participatio
Protection, P



These are not rights in conﬂic
! t to be
‘balanced’, but are mutually re
-enforcing.
Look at the triangle: if you re
move any
side, it will collapse.



and pract
ice
licy
search, po one side of the
Many re rt from
agendas sta , focus
sed on on
line
le
or examp tection.
triangle: f child pro
ook
hey m ust also l
rame s uggests t ou!ng peo
ple’s
This f and y
n online, ions about the
o
at provisi on in decis ing
parti cipati full u nderstand d
rld to have a ow to respon
digital wo explore and h
o
of what t




!

Similarly -
ap
cannot foc rovider of online ser
us vic
needs to lo only on provision: bu es
ok t als
and partici at having good protec o
pation foun tion
dations in
place.




!

But if we are to fully unders
tand the
mutually re-enforcing natu
re of these
aspects of young people’s o
nline lives, we
need to add a little more de
tail.



Support digital citizenship

Empower young people

Respond to risks

Promote resiliency

Provide positive spaces

Youth shaped services

!


: one principle
to Support digital citizenship
e: six principles on each side of
So we a dd a circl nses look like icular
hat respo sed on a part
express w (responses focus ciple at each
le in
the triang ights), and one pr se mutually re-
set of r he
howi ng how t ate.
intersection - s areas of rights rel Respond to risks
enforcing

Promote resiliency



!




Respond to risks

Promote resiliency



So if we’re researching e-part
icipation,
we should ask how it empow
ers young
people with skills to manage
their safety
online, and how young people
are
shaping the provision of part
icipative
spaces.
!




Respond to risks

Promote resiliency

n policy, w
e Provide positive spaces
tectio
lann ing a pro uilds on young
If we’re p k at how it b s in
to loo articipant
need ed p
empower , and how we Youth shaped services
people as protection
their own ote resiliency.
prom

!




Respond to risks

Promote resiliency



Etc...

!


!


how
t mode l: a sketch of
This is just a draf frames for th
inking
rnative
we can ﬁnd alte lives
about yo ung people’s

Reﬁning a
model tha
depth of i t
nsights int can capture the
technolog o yo
y that rese ung people and
people’s o
wn voices arch, and young
foundation o
s of the U ffer us; the strong
simplicity; NCRC; an
will take m d a need f
ore work. or

!


Where next?



Where next?

w we
Your views on this model, and ho
portunity-
escape th e limitations of an op
y welcome.
risk dic hotomy would be ver
soon -
(Web space for discussion coming
or leave a
for now g et in touch by e-mail,
slides)
com ment alongside these



@timdavies | http://www.timdavies.org.uk | http://www.practicalparticipation.co.uk


Rethinking Responses to Young People and the Internet - beyond Opportunity and Risk - EU Kids Online II - September 2011

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