More than half of practitioners feel ill-equipped to address social media’s influence on children

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More than half of social workers feel unprepared to tackle the impact of social media on children, a Community Care poll has found.

This follows the release of Netflix drama Adolescence in March, which sparked a national debate in the UK around the growing influence of online content on children – particularly young boys.

The four-episode series follows the aftermath of a 13-year-old boy being accused of murdering a girl from his school and explores children’s exposure to misogyny and incel (involuntarily celibate) culture online.

‘An emerging and growing problem’ – Starmer

In the wake of the show’s success, prime minister Keir Starmer described the online radicalisation of boys as “an emerging and growing problem” and backed screenings of Adolescence in secondary schools.

However, he cautioned that there was not a “lever” he could pull to solve the problem, adding: “Only by listening and learning from the experiences of young people and charities can we tackle the issues this groundbreaking show raises.”

With social workers often supporting children who spend long periods online, how equipped do they feel to tackle the influence of online culture?

A Community Care poll with 640 responses found that one-third of practitioners didn’t feel “at all” equipped to address the influence of social media on children, while 25% said they were only “a little” equipped.

Only 15% stated they were “very” well-equipped, and 27% said they were “somewhat” so.

If you’d like to share or write about your take on Adolescence and working with children who spend long periods online, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com

Celebrate those who’ve inspired you

Photo by Daniel Laflor/peopleimages.com/ AdobeStock

Do you have a colleague, mentor, or social work figure you can’t help but gush about?

Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone within social work who has inspired you – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how the person has inspired you.

*Please note that, despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry*

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com