Thanks to our partnership with the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit, Media Cubs were invited to run a unique workshop at the ‘Hope Hack’ event at Lancashire Cricket Club in Old Trafford.

Hope Hacks are run around the UK by the Hope Collective and are an opportunity for young people and those working with young people to discuss ideas for a safer and fairer area in which they live.

Our workshop introduced the group to different parts of the media, TV and radio equipment, how to conduct an effective interview and also gave the young people the chance to debate whether they thought social media was dangerous or not.

Interestingly, the majority of the room agreed that social media can be dangerous and shared personal experiences such as having photographs stolen and used for ‘catfishing’. Others expressed their worries about screen time, age restrictions, online reporting systems and accidently viewing unpleasant things or not being able to spot fake news online.

However, the majority also agreed that they enjoy using social media to stay connected and like to see what their friends are up to, or use it to keep on top of trends.

As part of the GMVRU ongoing ‘I am Greater’ campaign, the group were also invited to sign their name onto a metal padlock and place it on a designated fence at the venue, as a promise to always be greater than violence.

The young people were then invited into the conference room in front of hundreds other young people and professionals from services around Greater Manchester, to share their thoughts and conclusions.

Kirsty Day, project leader at Media Cubs, said: “Once we started the debate all we had to do was sit back and listen to the young people share their views. They all had so many opinions about social media and it really got us all weighing up the positives and negatives. I was pleased that they felt safe enough to share their personal experiences with the group too.

“Watching them present their thoughts to so many others was amazing and I hope that we sparked some conversations about staying safe on social media.”

Hear from some of the young people at the event here.

Article posted on: 31/10/2022 03:10pm