Youth-led safeguarding amid digital restrictions: How boys and young men protect their mental health in digital spaces in Australia
1
College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Northern Territory, Australia
2
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
3
The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
4
SHAPE Research Centre, Flinders University, South Australia, Australia
5
Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australia
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Public health debates have long focused on the potential harms that arise from young people’s engagement with digital spaces, but these discussions have become more prominent in the face of a global move to restrict young people’s access to social media. In this paper, we prioritise boys’ and young men’s voices in understanding how they are already engaging in safeguarding practices online, with a particular focus on how they protect their mental health in digital environments.
METHODS:
This work draws on the perspectives of 47 Australian Adolescent Boys and Young Men (ABYM) aged 15 to 25 who took part in either interviews (N=20) or focus groups (N=27) that focused on their social media practices. A thematic analysis, with themes reviewed and refined by an interdisciplinary research team, revealed how ABYM perceive and negotiate harm mitigation online as their lives become increasingly digitised.
RESULTS:
Analysis revealed a range of youth-led practices through which ABYM assess risk, develop digital knowledges, and actively manage their wellbeing online. In addition, many ABYM viewed themselves as personally responsible for protecting themselves from the structural and commercial harms they consistently face in digital spaces. These findings foreground young people’s agency in their management of digital risk, alongside the lack of effective e-safety education that is both appealing and currently available to young men.
CONCLUSIONS:
This paper highlights the need for e-safety initiatives that recognise both the vulnerabilities and existing critical capacities of ABYM. In an era of increasing digital restrictions, this work stresses the importance of inclusive research practices that elevate and prioritise young people’s perspectives to inform future online health policy and regulation.
Public health debates have long focused on the potential harms that arise from young people’s engagement with digital spaces, but these discussions have become more prominent in the face of a global move to restrict young people’s access to social media. In this paper, we prioritise boys’ and young men’s voices in understanding how they are already engaging in safeguarding practices online, with a particular focus on how they protect their mental health in digital environments.
METHODS:
This work draws on the perspectives of 47 Australian Adolescent Boys and Young Men (ABYM) aged 15 to 25 who took part in either interviews (N=20) or focus groups (N=27) that focused on their social media practices. A thematic analysis, with themes reviewed and refined by an interdisciplinary research team, revealed how ABYM perceive and negotiate harm mitigation online as their lives become increasingly digitised.
RESULTS:
Analysis revealed a range of youth-led practices through which ABYM assess risk, develop digital knowledges, and actively manage their wellbeing online. In addition, many ABYM viewed themselves as personally responsible for protecting themselves from the structural and commercial harms they consistently face in digital spaces. These findings foreground young people’s agency in their management of digital risk, alongside the lack of effective e-safety education that is both appealing and currently available to young men.
CONCLUSIONS:
This paper highlights the need for e-safety initiatives that recognise both the vulnerabilities and existing critical capacities of ABYM. In an era of increasing digital restrictions, this work stresses the importance of inclusive research practices that elevate and prioritise young people’s perspectives to inform future online health policy and regulation.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
