Digital Defence & Activism Lessons: Equipping young people to navigate contemporary digital cultures in and around school

2015年，一群女孩建立了一个推特账户，作为她们中学女权主义社会的一部分。在发布第一条推文后不到一个小时，他们就收到了一连串愤怒的、带有性意味的回复。在接下来的几周里，他们遭到了攻击、威胁和贬低。这些女孩被要求“自杀”，被称为“女权主义者”，被发送色情链接，被质疑性暴力的官方统计数据，被要求“闭嘴”和“给我做个三明治”。自2014年以来，我们一直在研究年轻人使用数字技术挑战性别不平等、性别歧视和骚扰的情况（Mendes et al. 2019）。虽然数字技术为变革提供了新的可能性，但它们使那些直言不讳的人容易受到恶毒的、往往是性别化、性别化和种族化的喷子的攻击。我们的研究表明，虽然一些学生拥有必要的个人韧性和数字素养技能来应对这些挑战，但许多学生却没有，最终感到沉默、政治脱节或受到创伤。从保护年轻人网络安全、打击虚假信息、发展恢复能力的途径以及通过我们的研究确定的促进政治参与的机会等更广泛的挑战中，这个后续项目有三个关键目标：首先，我们将为中学生开发七个定制的数字防御和数字行动（DD&A）讲习班（关键阶段3-5）。前三个数字防御会议将涵盖一般主题，如如何在“后真相”世界中识别虚假信息和假新闻（Marwick & Lewis 2017），制定在线安全策略，图像共享和法律，以及管理身心健康。最后四个数位行动工作坊将教导年轻人如何利用数位技术进行政治行动。我们关注女权主义活动，因为它使我们能够利用我们最初的AHRC奖的发现，因为有必要进行女权主义教育、培训和政治参与（Ringrose 2012）。其次，我们将为教师们开展研讨会，指导他们如何将DD&A研讨会与新的强制性关系与性教育（RSE）课程联系起来。第三，我们将开发开放获取的资源，如手册、播客、工作表和来自社交媒体影响者的视频。这些数字化资源由莱斯特大学的Figshare存储库托管，为期至少10年，将最大限度地扩大研讨会对新的（国际）国家受众的影响，使其在资助期后能够持续发展。虽然我们最初的AHRC奖专门关注数字女权主义活动的挑战和机遇，但学者们已经记录了对那些敢于“反击”（hooks 1989）压迫的人的恶意挑衅，包括LGBTQ+问题的活动家，以及那些在网上争取种族平等的人（Scheurman et al. 2018）。因此，我们的参与者采用的安全策略广泛适用于所有活动家，或任何希望通过数字技术表达意见的人。与主要利益相关者和合作者合作，该项目将对2300名中学生产生直接影响，他们将对性别和性别不平等有具体的了解；有关图片分享的法律；提高韧性和数字扫盲技能的途径。长期影响将包括增加和更有效的公民参与；减少刑事犯罪和起诉基于形象的犯罪（报复性色情、偷拍裙底）；更好地识别和打击虚假信息的一代人；降低压力、焦虑和抑郁水平。该项目还将立即影响2500名教师，他们将能够提供有效和相关的RSE课程。从长远来看，它将培养出更有信心应对年轻人生活中的“数字”的教师。通过将我们的资源数字化，该项目有可能在未来几年惠及数十万人。

In 2015, a group of girls set up a Twitter account as part of their secondary school feminist society. Less than an hour after posting their first tweet, they received a barrage of angry, sexualized responses. Over the coming weeks, they were attacked, threatened, and belittled. The girls were told to 'kill themselves', called 'Feminazis,' sent porn links, had official statistics on sexual violence challenged, told to 'shut up' and 'make me a sandwich.' Since 2014, we have been studying young people's use of digital technologies to challenge gender inequality, sexism and harassment (Mendes et al. 2019). While digital technologies offer new possibilities for change, they make those who speak out vulnerable to vicious, often gendered, sexualized and racialized trolling. Our research shows that while some pupils possess necessary personal resilience and digital literacy skills to cope with these challenges, many do not and end up feeling silenced, politically disengaged, or traumatized. Drawn from broader challenges of keeping young people safe online, combating disinformation, developing pathways to resilience, and fostering opportunities for political engagement identified through our research, this follow-on project has three key aims: First, we will develop seven bespoke Digital Defence & Digital Activism (DD&A) workshops for secondary-students (Key Stages 3-5). The first three Digital Defence sessions will cover general topics such as how to identify disinformation and fake news in a 'post-truth' world (Marwick & Lewis 2017), developing online safety strategies, image sharing and the law, and managing mental and physical health. The final four Digital Activism workshops will teach young people to harness digital technologies for political activism. We focus on feminist activism because it allows us to draw on findings from our original AHRC award, and because there is a need for feminist education, training and political engagement (Ringrose 2012). Second, we will develop workshops and guidance for teachers on how to link our DD&A workshops to the newly mandatory Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum. Third, we will develop open-access resources such as handbooks, podcasts, worksheets and videos from social media influencers. These digitized resources, hosted by Leicester University's Figshare repository for a 10-year-minimum will maximize the workshops' reach to new (inter)national audiences, enabling their sustainability beyond the funding period. While our original AHRC award focused specifically on challenges and opportunities of digital feminist activism, scholars have documented vicious trolling towards others who dare to 'talk back' (hooks 1989) to oppression, including campaigners on LGBTQ+ issues, and those fighting for racial equality online (Scheurman et al. 2018). As a result, safety strategies employed by our participants have broad applicability to all activists, or anyone who wishes to express their views via digital technologies.Working with key stakeholders and collaborators, this project will have immediate impact with 2.3k secondary students who will gain specific understanding of gender and sexual inequalities; laws around image sharing; improved pathways to resilience and digital literacy skills. Longer term impact will include increased and more effective civic engagement; a reduction in criminal offences and prosecution of image-based crimes (revenge porn, upskirting); a generation better equipped to identify and combat disinformation; and decreased levels of stress, anxiety and depression.The project will also immediately impact 2.5k teachers who will be able to deliver effective and relevant RSE lessons. In the long term, it will develop teachers who are more confident addressing 'the digital' in young people's lives. Through digitizing our resources, the project has the potential to reach hundreds of thousands of people in years to come.