Online Resilience and Wellbeing in Young People

“Drawing on academic and practical expertise, Phippen and Street offer a much needed youth-centered and evidence-based approach to safeguarding young people online. Constructive and accessible, but upfront and unapologetic about the need to rethink taken-for-granted assumptions about youth, digital media and risk, this book is required reading for those working in the field. The book deftly builds a case for reform to policy and practice, and presents a workable and practical model for doing so.”
-         - Dr Emily Setty, University of Surrey, UK. Author of Risk and Harm in Youth Sexting Culture: Young People’s Perspectives

This book explores online resilience and safety from a new perspective, by drawing extensively upon the youth voice. While “online safety” as a concept has now existed for well over ten years, the majority of policy and narrative is driven by preventative and adultist views of ensuring safety from harm.Underpinned by extensive empirical work, this book argues that safety, or freedom from harm, is not an achievable goal and we should refocus upon harm reduction and risk mitigation. Fundamental to this argument is that the youth voice clearly states that they will not disclose, or ask adults for support, because they do not believe they will get help or worse, will be punished as a result of disclosure. The research shows that professionals often bring their own digital value biases into safeguarding decisions, and feel that they should be white knights to young people, rather than listening to them and supporting them in a non-judgemental way. The book will be of great value to researchers and students as well as practitioners, teachers and parents interested in digital resilience and safeguarding, internet security and youth online behaviour and wellbeing.

Andy Phippen is Professor of Digital Rights at Bournemouth University, UK with 20 years’ experience researching issues in the online safeguarding area.

Louisa Street is a youth worker with over 10 years’ experience working on a range of issues with young people including online safety and drugs and alcohol awareness.