how to support young people to build digital confidence and resilience

Young people are growing up in a world where online spaces are woven into everyday life, friendships, learning, creativity, and identity exploration all happen digitally. While the internet can offer connection and opportunity, it can also expose young people to risks that they are not always equipped to navigate alone.

Why Digital Confidence Matters

Digital confidence isn’t about being fearless online, it’s about feeling informed, supported, and able to make choices that prioritise wellbeing.

Young people who lack digital confidence may:

• feel pressured to share images or personal information
• struggle to recognise manipulation or coercion
• fear speaking up when something feels wrong
• blame themselves when harm occurs

This vulnerability can be exploited in situations involving sextortion, image-based abuse, grooming, or emotional manipulation.

Building confidence early can significantly reduce harm.

Encouraging Critical Thinking Online

One of the most powerful protective tools is helping young people question what they see and experience online.

Support them to ask:

• Why might someone be asking for this information?
• Do I feel rushed, pressured, or uncomfortable?
• Would I feel okay if this conversation or image were shared?

Teaching young people that it’s okay to pause, doubt, and say no helps counteract the urgency and secrecy that coercive situations rely on.

Normalising Boundaries and “No”

Many young people are taught to be polite, agreeable, and accommodating—sometimes at the expense of their own comfort.

It’s important to reinforce that:

• saying no does not make them rude or unkind
• boundaries do not require justification
• blocking, muting, or disengaging is a valid response
• discomfort is enough reason to step away

When young people understand that their boundaries matter, they are more likely to protect themselves—and to seek help when those boundaries are violated.

Creating Safe Conversations

Adults often underestimate how much young people want guidance—without judgement.

Helpful conversations are:

• calm and curious, not interrogative
• focused on safety, not punishment
• open-ended rather than directive
• ongoing, not one-off lectures

Instead of asking, “Why did you do that?”, try:

• “How did that make you feel?”
• “Did anything feel uncomfortable?”
• “What support would help right now?”

When young people know they won’t be blamed, they’re far more likely to speak up early.

What to Teach About Online Harm

Age-appropriate education should include:

• recognising coercion and pressure tactics
• understanding consent in digital contexts
• knowing that threats or blackmail are never their fault
• how to save evidence and seek help safely
• where to go for confidential support

If a young person experiences sextortion or online abuse, fear and shame can prevent disclosure. Clear messaging that help is available and judgement-free can be lifesaving.

Supporting Resilience After Harm

Resilience doesn’t mean “bouncing back” quickly. It means knowing that support exists and that one experience does not define a person’s worth or future.

If a young person has been harmed online:

• reassure them that they are not to blame
• avoid minimising their experience
• help them regain a sense of control
• connect them with appropriate support services

Healing happens best in environments where safety, dignity, and choice are prioritised.

A Shared Responsibility

Protecting young people online isn’t solely their responsibility. It requires informed adults, supportive communities, and systems that centre safety over silence.

By fostering digital confidence, we equip young people not just to avoid harm, but to trust themselves, advocate for their needs, and seek help without fear.

Q Magazine: supporting our community since 2004 – February 2026 edition out this weekend.

brett

Born in Cairns (Far North Queensland – Australia) I am the youngest and the only boy of a family of five. My first serious job was as a Salesperson, the announcer, then Production Manager for 4AM. I spent in excess of ten years running my own successful entertainment agency before moving to Melbourne (Victoria – Australia) where I currently live, work and play. A week after arriving I joined the sales team at JOY 94.9fm – what was to be Australia’s first and only dedicated gay and lesbian radio station. I was clearly destined to be self-employed as fate would have it. Q Magazine was born in March 2004 and as they so rightly say ‘the rest is history’.

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