In the onlife world of social media and digital literacy advocacy, it can be easy as a presenter to fall into a filter bubble based on personal experiences and one’s professional background. As a retired law enforcement officer who served 30 years on the job, there was no doubt that the negative aspects of the internet were the focus of my presentations back in the early years of presenting. This created a confirmation bias that often did not match the reality of the youth audience I was trying to reach. My presentation only highlighted the “bad” stuff, neglecting to speak about the positive things that youth were doing online at the time. In hindsight, this approach was not conducive to reaching young people to keep them safer. I will admit, 14yrs ago when I first started presenting to youth, it was more about a “scare safe” approach – something that I cringe at today, but definitely learned from!
Two years before retiring from policing, I started to listen to youth who approached me and asked why I did not speak about the good of social media and technology. This was the beginning of my personal and professional journey to find balance in my presentations that I recognized was missing. I started to listen to youth about their social media and technology use, which I then combined with good evidence-based peer-reviewed research to inform and create a foundational balance in my presentations. This experience taught me that finding the balance between the positive and negative aspects of social media and technology is crucial to effectively reach young people, especially when it comes to helping them to mediate and make informed decisions about the bad before they hit the send button.
For those in law enforcement who present to youth about digital literacy and internet safety, I would suggest you consider taking some guidance from my mistakes. It is easy to become target locked on the negative aspects of technology and social media since those in law enforcement usually deal with the dark underbelly of these platforms. This experience becomes our filter bubble. However, there is also so much positive to highlight as well. Finding that balance in your presentations will have a bigger impact on youth. By sharing concerns about their onlife world in a way that ties into where they are today and is relevant to their life, intelligence, and experience, we can help young people make good decisions online. But to do this, law enforcement presenters must educate themselves first about the good just as much as they do the bad.
As a social media safety and digital literacy advocate of 14 years now, I learned that finding the right balance in presentations is the key to reaching young people. It is crucial to be aware of personal biases and filter bubbles that may affect the content and messaging presented. By actively listening to youth and incorporating evidence-based research, law enforcement presenters can create a balanced approach that effectively speaks to the reality of young people’s lives online in an enlightening rather than frightening way.
Darren
The White Hatter