Selfies, Snapchat and Keeping Safe: How do looked after children engage online?

The aims of the project are:

1. Do looked after children engage in or experience cyberbullying at the same rate as their peers?
2. How do looked after children experience social media? What are their digital lives like?
3. What are the risk factors of online engagement for looked after children?
4. What advantages does online engagement offer for looked after children?

Young people today engage online via social media to maintain friendships, socialise, entertain and educate themselves. They spend an increasing amount of time online, with 21% of young people using social media for at least five hours (Scott, Biello and Woods, 2019). While there is extensive international research on cyberbullying and social media usage among young people, little is known about the online lives of looked after children. It is reasonable to assume that they would be engaging as much as their peers. However, care orders, a lack of financial means and changes in placements may influence their rates of internet and social media access. Understanding how looked after children engage online is important to fill this research gap in addition to promote further understanding of this population and how best to meet their needs.

First, this research will determine the extent that looked after children engage online as well as where and how they access social media.

Second, it will discover who looked after children engage with online.

Third, this research will examine the rates in which looked after children engage in or experience cyberbullying as compared to their peers.

Lastly, this research will determine if there are any barriers or issues that looked after children have in accessing technology and online spaces.

This research will contribute to the growing body of knowledge about looked after children in Wales. Public involvement will include the recruitment of care experienced individuals to the steering committee for this project. Additionally, this project has been discussed with and encouraged by CASCADE Voices, along with staff from Voices from Care Cymru, as well as researchers and lecturers from Cardiff University.

There will be a range of dissemination activities taking place at the conclusion of the project, which will be co-produced with the researchers involved in the project. There will be workshops arranged through ExChange Wales, which is the information dissemination network within CASCADE, which will allow practitioners, educators, foster carers and other interested parties to be further informed about the online lives of care experienced young people. There will also be opportunities to present findings at national and international conferences.