Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) Children, Violence & Vulnerability

“What role does social media play in violence affecting young people?”

Report 2 of five in the 2024 Children, Violence and Vulnerability series.

“The Youth Endowment Fund surveyed over 10,000 teenage children (aged 13-17) in England and Wales about their experiences of violence.”

Fieldwork covered England and Wales only (not Scotland or Northern Ireland); the study is UK-based but its coverage is not UK-wide.

“Children, violence and vulnerability 2024”

Published in 2024; fieldwork ran from May to July 2024.

“The survey took 15 minutes on average to complete and was live between 22 May and 2 July 2024.”

“This year, a total of 10,387 children aged 13-17 responded to our survey.”

“This year, a total of 10,387 children aged 13-17 responded to our survey.”

“As with last year, this was an online survey. This year, we worked with a new surveying partner – Savanta.”

Non-probability online survey run by Savanta, with quotas and weights for age, gender, ethnicity, region and socioeconomic status in England and Wales. The technical report describes panel recruitment on PDF p.2.

“Have you seen content on social media in the form of messages or posts (text, audio or video) that included the following:…” “We’re interested in real-world violence (not including content in the news, TV, video games or films), including people in your local area or that you know.”“Threats to beat up another child, or a group of children or young people”“Fights involving children or young people”“Sexually violent content or threats, e.g. images or threats of sexual assault”“Children or young people carrying, promoting, or using weapons (e.g. a knife, screwdriver or club)”“Children or young people being part of or promoting gangs”Response options: Yes, in the last 12 months / No, not in the last 12 months / Not sure

Q26 asks one response for each content category; the list and response options continue on PDF p.44. The nine categories include violent threats, fights, sexual violence, weapons, gangs, drugs, glorified attacks and Other. Drug-related items are broader contextual measures.

“Have you used any of the following platforms in the past 12 months?”

Q28a/Q28b document 17 named apps. Figure 1.3 reports 14 and omits Tumblr, Vimeo and Viber. All 17 remain part of measurement coverage. The report does not explain the omissions app by app.

“Have you seen any violent content on the following platforms in the past 12 months? Again, we’re interested in real-world violence (not including content in the news, TV, video games or films), including people in your local area or that you know.…” “[Only show platforms selected @Q28_A]”

Q28b is asked only for apps selected at Q28a as used in the past 12 months. Each app-specific question therefore applies to that app’s own users.