Presentation by Michele Bartlett at the European Association for Counselling conference in Malta 2014

1. Growing up in a digital age
5th April, 2014
*
Michèle Bartlett
Chair UKCP Faculty for the Psychological Health of Children

2. *http://
*html
*url

4. *
*2002: First Blackberry introduced to the market
*2004: Facebook founded
*2007: First Apple iPhone released
*2008: First Android phones (Google, HTC)
*2009: First references to “sexting” appear
*2010: Askfm launched
*2011: Instagram is named iPhone app of the year
*2014: Tumblr hosts 174.2 million blogs

5. *
*On June 13, 2013, WhatsApp announced on
Twitter that they had reached their new daily
record by processing 27 billion messages
*In 2013, the word of the year was “Selfie”
*Facebook paid $19,000,000,000 for WhatsApp
in February 2014

6. *
*Social media as a “moving landscape”
*Different profiles for different contexts
*“Impression management”
*How young people understand “privacy”
*Networked “publics” exist as both real and imagined

7. *
*70% of students report seeing frequent bullying online
*Only one in ten victims will report it to a trusted adult
*Girls are approximately twice as likely to be victims
*Bullying victims are 2-9 times more likely to consider
suicide

8. *You Don't Know Me (dissociative anonymity)
*You Can't See Me (invisibility)
*See You Later (asynchronicity)
*It's All in My Head (solipsistic introjection)
*It's Just a Game (dissociative imagination)
*We're Equals (minimizing authority)
*Altering Self Boundary

9. *
*Is it bullying or is it “drama”?
*Discussion not surveillance
*Social process
*Increased visibility
*Framing as bullying institutes a “blame” culture
*Understanding how they fit into the broader world

10. *
*“The exchange of sexual messages or images”
*Biggest threat is from peers
*Often coercive
*Gender-specific risks
*Is part of a culture of wider sexual pressures on children
and young people
*Affects even younger children

11. *
*Anyone filming or taking sexual pictures of a person
under 18 years of age and sharing them could be
charged with a criminal offence such as distributing
child pornography(includes downloading an image
or opening an attachment on an e mail)
*A photograph, film, video recording or electronic
image shall, if it shows a person under age and is
indecent, be treated as an indecent
photograph, film, video recording or electronic
image

12. *

13. *
*Over half of 11-14 year olds have viewed
pornography, with four out of of ten of those saying it
has affected their relationships with others their age
*Three quarters of 11-14 year olds described their
reaction to watching pornography as
disturbed, upset, worried, excited
*Pornographic material often contains violent
portrayals of sex
*Boys are particularly primed for “novelty seeking” in a
way that prizes pornographic imagery over “real”
relationships

14. *
*Use of technology did not predict BMI
*Users of the internet had better reading skills than non
users
*Video gaming promotes brain growth in areas related
to spatial orientation, memory formation and strategic
planning
*Long term studies correlate an increase in conduct
disorders with excessive TV viewing but not with
electronic games
*More than 70% of on line gamers play with a friend and
multiplayer games become virtual social communities

15. *

16. *
*Social media alters the landscape of the “cool
space”
*Video sharing, blogging and microblogging
*From “finding” friends to connecting with
friends
*Technology offers new social possibilities
*Preoccupation is less with technology and more
with friendships

17. *
*Current narrative assumes that all young
people are “digital natives”
*How to empower young people to engage
critically with unmediated information
*Censorship does not allow for personal
evaluation of data
*Young people are using digital technology for
experimentation and exploration

18. *
*“Many of the most important things in the evolution
of the Net were invented not by professors, but by
students”
*Political engagement: Malala Yousafzai
*Positive campaigning: End FGM campaign
*Empowerment: Twitter campaigns
*Finding a voice: The “never seconds” blog
*Finding an audience: You Tube

19. *

20. * References
* Bowen L (2014) “Video game play may promote learning, health, social benefits, review finds” Monitor on Psychology
www.apamonitor-digital.org/apamonitor/201402?folio=57#pg9,
* Boyd, D. (2014) “It’s complicated. The Social lives of networked teens”. New Haven/London: Yale University Press.
* www.dosomething.org
* Daily Mirror (2014) “Kids Age 6 are copying GTA Rapes” Daily Mirror, 13th February
* Englander, E “Digital self-harm: Frequency, Type, Motivations and Outcomes” Report of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Centre,
June 2012
* Extract from criminal code (Cap 9) of the Laws of Malta
* Goffman, E (1959) “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life”. Garden City, NY. : Doubleday
* www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/24/female-genital-mutilation-fahma-meets-michael-gove
* Jackson et al.(2011) “Internet use, videogame playing and cell phone use as predictors of children’s BMI, body weight, academic
performance and social and overall self-esteem”. Computers in Human Behaviour. Vol 27. . Issue 1 599-604
* Madden, M. et al. “Teens, Social Media and Privacy” Pew Internet and American Life Project. May 2013
www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Teens-Social-Media-And-Privacy.aspx
* Naughton, J. (1999) “A Brief History of the Future: the origins of the internet”. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson
* www.neverseconds.blogspot.co.u
* www.pewinternet.org/2011/11/09/teens-kindness-and-cruelty-on-social-network-sites
* Prensky, M. (2001) “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”. NCB University Press. Vol 9, no.5
* Ringrose J, Gill R, Livingstone S, Harvey L, (2012) A qualitative study of children, young people and “sexting”: a report prepared
for the NSPCC. London: NSPCC
* Suler,J (2004) “The on-line disinhibition effect”. Cyberpsychology and behaviour, 7, 321-326
* Sunday Times (2013) “Generation Porn” Sunday Times News Review, 16th June
* Wilson, Gary “The great porn experiment” at TEDx Glasgow, May 2012
* www.youngminds.org.uk/news/blog/1854_safer_internet_day_porn_affecting_11-year-olds