Tactical Tech's Youth Initiative

For a while now, parents and educators have been asking Tactical Tech for resources that can be used to educate kids about how technology impacts society. In the past five years, with the growth of our public engagement projects, namely The Glass Room and the Data Detox Kit, this demand has increased rapidly.

At the same time, the environment that young people are growing up in is being infiltrated with digital technologies at every level, which is presenting unique challenges such as: tech habit and addiction, dealing with algorithmic content and content moderation, the normalisation of a quantified childhood and wider digital issues facing society and their future, such as the impact of technology on democracy and the ethical challenges of artificial intelligence.

In 2020, Tactical Tech will embark on a new initiative that will seek to empower young people, aged 10-18, with the skills and critical thinking they need to shape their digital futures. Put simply, children and teenagers, should have a say in what their future looks like, and as we’ve seen with the burgeoning youth environmental movement, they are ready to take matters into their own hands.

Although this is the first Tactical Tech project that is aimed directly at a younger audience, educational methodologies have always been part of our programme. Making complex issues accessible and tangible is a core component of how we work and this can readily be applied to a young audience, especially with the introduction of peer-to-peer learning models and youth-led engagement.

Since late 2018, we’ve been testing and iterating workshops in schools, to learn directly from young people and their teachers about what is needed. Alongside that we’ve been doing field and desk research to understand the valuable work that has already been done, so that we know how best to contribute.

Now we are ready to get started and we look forward to engaging and empowering young people to set their own agenda for how they want digital technologies to shape their lives, now and in the future.

Watch this space!

If you’d like to get in touch with us please write to ttc@tacticaltech.org.