Constructing a safer digital world for teenagers requires greater than cutting-edge know-how. At Thorn, we imagine youth voices and experiences are important to constructing safer areas on-line. That’s why we created NoFiltr.
NoFiltr elevates youth voices within the digital areas they care about, serving to them embrace the facility they need to construct secure, supportive, and resilient digital communities collectively. This prevention program seeks to extend consciousness amongst youth in regards to the dangers of sharing nudes on-line, change poisonous attitudes that disgrace victims, and equip youth with the information and instruments they want to withstand on-line threats.
On the coronary heart of NoFiltr is the Youth Innovation Council (YIC). The YIC creates hands-on alternatives for youth to enhance their digital panorama by its curriculum-like framework of innovation, creativity, and design.
Meet the YIC Class of 2024
Every year we evaluate many purposes from youth and choose a various cohort that helps form NoFiltr’s marketing campaign efforts for the approaching 12 months. For 2024, we chosen 25 excellent youth representatives, 5 of whom establish as a part of the LGBTQ+ neighborhood.
Their illustration is essential to the work being performed at NoFiltr as a result of LGBTQ+ minors are 3X extra prone to expertise undesirable and dangerous habits on-line.
Right here’s the breakdown:
Youth council members have been then assigned numerous tasks based mostly on their pursuits and talent units:
Digital Security Ambassadors mix their ardour for digital security with public talking expertise to advertise consciousness on the web’s rising threats.
Digital Useful resource Consultants use writing expertise to craft participating, academic month-to-month articles for the NoFiltr Useful resource Hub.
Content material Creators deliver design and manufacturing expertise to create content material that intersects between digital questions of safety and youth social media developments.
Collectively, this cohort launched into a 12 months of collaborating, creating, and elevating their views on digital security and wellbeing by key partnerships with on-line platforms and social media content material creation.
Seat At The Desk Workshops
As leaders equipping platforms with the know-how and assets they should create safer on-line areas for teenagers, we’re typically known as upon for our baby security experience. These platforms need to interact instantly with youth impacted by their merchandise, so we designed Seat At The Desk workshops to foster collaboration between these platforms and NoFiltr’s YIC cohorts.
For these workshops, every companion spends 90 minutes assembly with the Youth Innovation Council to find out a novel objective for digital security on their platform. The YIC members then collaborate on modern options for every companion’s goal. In these periods, youth even have the chance to obtain skilled improvement recommendation from tech companions.
Listed here are a few examples from this cohort’s Seat At The Desk workshops:
Discord Constitution for a Higher Place to Grasp Out OnlineObjective: Present Discord with actual youth insights on their Discord expertise and current modern options to create academic consciousness for Discord Youth “Invoice of Rights.”Answer: A teen constitution representing the expectations teenagers have of one another on Discord. This set of ideas outlines Discord’s dedication to offering teenagers secure, inclusive areas the place they are often comfy being themselves. The constitution additional guarantees teenagers’ proper to privateness and transparency from Discord.
Pinterest Youth Useful resource BoardObjective: Supply youth-first suggestions for a Psychological Well being Consciousness Marketing campaign that seeks to bridge the information and perspective hole on digital mindfulness amongst youth, caregivers, and educators.Answer: Digital mindfulness assets, constructed by youth for youth. The YIC produced 4 collections of authentic content material for Pinterest: Scroll-Free Self-Care Problem, Pinning Positivity, Test Your Digital Wellbeing, and YIC Suggestions for Digital Mindfulness.
Producing Impactful Youth Sources
Along with partnering with the influential on-line platforms above, YIC members createdNoFiltr branded digital content material for youth. NoFiltr content material focuses on youth prevention methods and framing digital mindfulness as a foundational skillset to navigate dangers like sextortion, grooming, or being requested for nude photos.
It’s important to incorporate youth views when creating digital security content material for youth. NoFiltr’s content material has the best alternative for significant impression when it’s framed inside genuine youth experiences. Youth wish to see their very own views mirrored again to them, and that’s why the YIC is so necessary to participating youth within the areas they join on-line.
YIC members know what content material and suggestions will resonate with their friends. Within the span of simply 10 months, this 12 months’s cohort produced:
170+ movies exploring points youth face on-line, from sextortion to the rise in synthetic intelligence (AI) content material.
65+ articles offering firsthand youth views on navigating the digital panorama mindfully.
80+ items of social content material bringing digital questions of safety into present youth developments and tradition.
We’re happy with the fervour, creativity, and dedication this cohort displayed all year long empowering youth and offering them with alternatives to form safer on-line communities for themselves is key to creating safer digital areas.
Bridging the Dialog for Mother and father
We created NoFiltr to empower youth in navigating digital security, however we perceive mother and father additionally want instruments and assets to assist help their kids in staying secure on-line.
That’s why we additionally constructed Thorn for Mother and father—a set of assets, suggestions, and skilled info designed to assist mother and father be their children security internet as they develop up in a related, on-line world. Collectively, these two packages empower mother and father and youth with the instruments they should assist stop dangerous experiences and on-line abuse.
Be a part of Us in Constructing a Safer Digital World for Kids
The work we do at Thorn is barely potential by the beneficiant help of donors. The digital panorama is evolving quickly. Now, greater than ever, know-how and academic assets like NoFilter and Thorn for Mother and father are important to make sure children’ security in navigating this ever-changing panorama.
Each donation makes a distinction. You’ll be able to assist us guarantee a safer future for teenagers on-line by donating right here.
