Digital environments open spaces of connection and valuable exchange opportunities, but at the same time, they harbor new forms of vulnerability, especially for young people. The most visible forms of these vulnerabilities are cyberbullying and digital violence, which according to UNESCO data, affect nearly 20% of the young population. However, other issues are gaining more prominence, such as screen addiction, digital predation, or privacy breaches. This reality not only affects the emotional and psychological well-being of young people but can also have lasting repercussions on their personal and academic development.

In this context, the need for new forms of intervention and support becomes evident. The widespread adoption of new communication technologies has profoundly altered interaction and socialization patterns, imposing the urgency to adapt professional practices to these new contexts. In this sense, social work, and more specifically virtual social work, plays a key role in creating safe spaces where young people can report aggression and undesirable situations and receive professional support to address them properly.

In this Innobreak, two initiatives will be presented that respond to vulnerabilities emerging in digital environments from two complementary perspectives, adopting in one case the role of detection service and approach to young people in need of support, and in the other defining an alert channel for teenagers:

• Digital Streetwork (Germany) brings the street work approach with young people to the Internet. Project workers navigate social networks, participate in online communities, and actively approach young people who indicate or show support needs.

• B-resol is a digital omnichannel alert system that educational, leisure, sports, social entities, and protection centers make available to children and adolescents to prevent and detect bullying situations and any other type of violence or discomfort.

Speakers:

• Jonas Luz, Digital Streetwork (Germany)
• Cihara Vílchez, B-resol (Catalonia)