New Online Resilience Tool Launched for Professionals

21 Jul 2020 Andy Robinson

The Professionals Online Safety helpline (POSH) has teamed up with HeadStart Kernow to help create a new Online Resilience Tool.

Much like the Brook Traffic Light Tool, The Online Resilience Tool provides a practical way for professionals to assess young people’s online behaviour and help them make decisions about whether that behaviour represents risk of harm.

Developed as part of the Digital work-stream of the HeadStart Kernow programme, in partnership with University of Bournemouth and the POSH Helpline, the tool provides explanation and insight into online behaviors.

Why is online resilience important?

Sometimes professionals may not have immersive experience of the online world young people engage with on a regular basis. Therefore, understanding what young people are telling us, or what impact their online life or behaviors are having on their mental health and wellbeing can be difficult. Children and young people may not even comprehend where that impact is coming from or be aware that their online life effects their offline life.

On the helpline, POSH speak to lots of professions who would find a tool like this helpful to understand and address the issue they are presented with.

The behaviors in the tool are split into three categories;

  • Not harmful
  • Potentially Harmful
  • Harmful

How can it help?

To help you understand more about how the tool was developed and how to use it;

https://www.headstartkernow.org.uk/Digital/Understanding%20Digital%20Behaviours%20and%20Risk%20in%20Young%20People%20Final.pdf

You may still want to call the helpline to unpick the issue but then use the tool to identify different behaviors within that situation or case.

Head start will also be providing associated training with the tool which will cover in more depth, how to use the tool and what to do when a behavior has been identified. You can register your interest at the bottom of this page; https://www.headstartkernow.org.uk/digital-resilience/