Mr. Barry Peak:

I have some background in this because I taught politics and sociology for a number of years in Northern Ireland. I was fairly well versed with the media, although it was approximately ten years ago so social media did not have the same impact. Education and critical thinking are key to it. Many of the things we do in YSI encourage young people to be more critical thinkers, to engage with a variety of media sources, to identify those they can trust and to think about things such as reliability and validity. They need a type of toolkit whereby they can look at images and information and work out for themselves who are the authentic, reliable and valid voices. That is very important.

What is also important is that all this comes down to social justice. It is all about enabling young people to fulfil their potential and live the most empowered lives they can regardless of the social issues that the young people choose, whether it is about body image, mental health or racism. Every year we see a plethora of subjects. It is all about social justice and enabling young people and everybody in society to reach their full potential. Social media is an important part of that, but it is very important that we get young people to understand that they can use their agency to assert some control over their lives and to have an impact on social, economic, political, cultural and community life. That is the essence of what we do. That enables young people to be more critical thinkers and enables them to have more of an understanding of all facets of life, which will empower them as they go through their lives.

Increasingly, society is characterised by uncertainty and precarity so young people need to be critical thinkers and they need to be resilient, creative, adaptable and innovative. Learning those things in school and encouraging them to behave in those ways will help them as they navigate this society that is characterised by uncertainty, flux and precarity.