Life skills: the solution to the dangers of an online world?

Youth workers across the UK have cited mental health, low self-esteem, poor self-image, social media, drugs – especially vaping, plus lack of opportunities to engage with society, amongst top issues that young people face today, in a recent survey conducted by national drug education charity, Hope UK. Hope UK’s findings from the survey – conducted at the National Youth Ministry Weekend at the end of 2024 – strike a chord amidst the current national debate generated by the acclaimed Netflix show, Adolescence.

According to a recent BBC news story*, the drama ‘shows that children with limited opportunities to build their self-esteem are more vulnerable’, whether that be to the predatory messages of misogynistic influencers, or the county lines’ drugs gangs seeking to recruit young ‘runners’, or the prolific and easily accessible porn websites… *[BBC website, 30 March 2025, by Anna Lamche] PM Sir Keir Starmer has contributed to the debate by sharing his specific concerns for young people in the UK today: “It’s a cultural issue and therefore, we’re going to have to look more broadly, [and] work as a society on this.”

He adds: [The online safety bill is] “an important piece of legislation [but] we should go back and revisit whether there’s further work that we need to do to protect young people.” As a national drug education charity, Hope UK wholeheartedly endorses Sir Keir’s comments – and believes that the solution lies in teaching critical life skills to our children and young people. Life skills enable youngsters to learn how to access opportunities to participate in their communities – thereby reducing their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse.

Hope UK’s ‘Drugs, Life and You’ is a 10-week course designed to help young people understand and develop skills such as good decision-making, critical thinking, social capital and peer-resistance skills. Equipped with these skills, they will have a much better chance of successfully navigating the challenges they face growing up in today’s online world.

The charity also offers training for parents and carers, and for teachers, youth workers and other professionals with a responsibility for supporting and nurturing young people. Sessions are tailored to meet the specific needs of the group.

For more information about Hope UK visit https://hopeuk.org