Bridging the Digital Divide for Care Experienced Young People in Scotland : If Not Now, When?

McGhee, Kenny and Roesch-Marsh, Autumn (2020) Bridging the Digital Divide for Care Experienced Young People in Scotland : If Not Now, When? Discussion paper. CELCIS, Glasgow.

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Abstract

In Scotland, there has been a lack of national attention to issues of digital exclusion for those in the care system or those moving on from the care system. Whilst the focus of this briefing is how these impact on Scotland’s care experienced young people, these issues are not exclusive to Scotland. In 2017, the Children’s Commissioner in England published a report called Growing Up in Digital Care. The report highlighted that children in the care system in England are more likely than their peers to suffer from digital exclusion, identifying three key areas of deficit: lack of digital access; lack of digital skills and support; and lack of appropriate safeguarding. In this briefing paper we look in detail at these gaps by exploring some of the challenges and solutions to digital exclusion for care experienced young people through the even more critical need created by the COVID-19 crisis.