Peer-reviewed article
IFPHPOS0030 Understanding the Online Safety Ecosystem for Children and Young People in Newcastle Upon Tyne
Fiona Chun Man Ling ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This study looked at how the system around online safety for children and young people works in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Eleven participants, including health practitioners, charity staff, a school board member and an academic, took part in two workshops of 2.5 hours each. Together they built a causal loop diagram linking the factors and actors that affect online safety. Participants described two purposes of the system: encouraging online engagement through industry innovation, with limited safety support provided for profit, and shifting accountability for children's online behaviour between parents, schools and industry. Health practitioners were seen as receiving the tail end of that accountability chain.
Key points
- A causal loop diagram of the online safety system was built from two 2.5-hour workshops with 11 participants.
- Participants identified one system purpose as promoting children's online engagement through industry innovation, with limited, profit-motivated support for online safety.
- This purpose was said to make online behaviour the norm.
- A second purpose was accountability shifting for children's online behaviour among parents, schools and industry.
- Health practitioners appeared to receive the tail end of the accountability chain.
Limitations
The study is based on a small group of 11 participants from one city, and reflects their views rather than measured outcomes for children. Children and young people themselves do not appear to have been among the participants, and the leverage points for change have not yet been analysed.
Abstract
Abstract Background Online safety for children and young people (CYP) has been a topical issue in the UK recently with the government’s consultation of the possibility of making the restrictions of access to social media as a legislation. The aim of this study was to explore who, what and how the ecosystem of online safety targeting children and young people is sustained through developing a causal loop diagram (CLD). Methods The CLD was developed from two 2.5-hr workshops, comprised of 11 participants who were health practitioners, stakeholders from charitable organisations, a school board and an academic researcher. Participants brainstormed factors/actors that may contribute to online safety for CYP, and they collectively developed an online safety CLD through linking related factors/actors. The purpose of the ecosystem based on the CLD generated was discussed. Results Through discussion, participants identified two system purposes – a) the system aims at promoting CYP’s online engagement through innovation from the industry (social media/technological companies) and provision of limited support towards online safety for profit-making purposes, which in turn encourage online behaviour to be the norm; and b) Accountability shifting of CYP’s online behaviour, and actors in the system include parents, schools and industry, and health practitioners seem to receive the tail-end of the accountability chain. Discussion Going forward, the leverage points for intervention in order to disrupt the systems behaviour will be conducted, including potential amount of time and effort needed to tackle those leverage points, in order to inform actions to minimize online harm for CYP.