Aberlour's response to the UK Government's 'Growing Up Online' Consultation

Aberlour places the safety, wellbeing and human rights of children at the heart of its practice. Central to this is to ensure that children and young people are safeguarded, in both the physical and online world. The context of the digital environment is rapidly changing and Aberlour is committed to keeping pace and responding to these changes.

Aberlour maintains rigorous organisational policies to support children, young people and families to navigate the digital environment safely and reduce risk of harm. Our approach focuses on building resilience, avoiding blanket bans, and empowering children and families to use parental controls and supervision.

We believe that outright bans on technology use are ineffective and may increase risk by driving behaviour underground. We advocate for education, regulation of technology companies, and open conversations with our young people as more effective approaches. These principles are embedded in Article 17 of the UNCRC, which tells us children should be empowered by knowledge and skills to keep themselves safe in a digital world.

In response to this consultation, we have chosen to respond only to questions where we can provide insight from our organisational experience and knowledge or where we can reflect the views of children, young people and families we support. In preparing our response we have engaged with and reflected the views and experiences of children and young people supported by some of our community based and residential children’s services.

Read our response to the UK Government's 'Growing Up Online' consultation.