Part 1
As you may or may not know, EYMH are currently part of several Horizon Europe projects. One of which is called ‘Bootstrap’ the aim to research and address ‘problematic use of the internet’ in young people, its impact on their mental health and how they can be supported to manage this.
In 2024, EYMH worked with several universities in Europe to host 2 Bootcamps for the Bootstrap project. This event gathered around 60 young students from 9 different countries to talk about and create research and actions for the Bootstrap project.
Below is PART 1 of our 2-part story featuring blogs and videos about our experiences at these sessions.
In Part 1, Sami, who was a Young Expert in the ‘Bootcrew’ (a group of young people from Europe with experiences of mental health issues and/or internet use), now a trustee, shared his thoughts on working with us and attending the 1st Bootcamp in March 2024.
Cue flashback … Its a crisp morning, in Missenden Abbey, Buckinghamshire, UK. young people from across Europe have dessended on this quint village, enter Young Expert Sami…
I’m Sami, a 20-year-old EYMH young expert on the BOOTstrap advisory board from Manchester. With the world growing more and more reliant on the internet, most of us use it constantly and do not realise the implications this has on our mental health. The chances are, you’re reading these very words through using the internet.
Many young people, including myself, do not know a world without the internet. For us, it has turned into an important part of our lives. Living without it would be a nightmarish struggle most of us would rather not live through. Though not all usage of the internet should be considered problematic- some things could be considered healthy and unhealthy. At the bootcamp, it was clear that most of us considered the quantity of usage a problem rather than the usage of the internet overall being problematic.
Now imagine this: researchers, teachers, youth workers and Young Experts that make up the Bootstrap consortium, all gathered together in a historical Abbey in Great Missenden (First time I had heard of the place too). All with just one aim, to train the Student Ambassadors for their task of promoting the app within their communities and creating the foundations for this research by helping us garner the data needed to conduct the research.
Workshop after workshop. ‘What should the app look like? What should be the features? How should it work?’ The word bootcamp wasn’t used in vain- yet there were moments to get away for moments, whether by fidgeting with the smiley faces or talking to those we had only seen on our screens and through the internet prior.
I think that the bootcamp went as we had hoped. Though we were blessed with the unpredictability of British weather- changing between sunny, cloudy and rainy within a matter of hours, the atmosphere at the bootcamp definitely felt like we were surrounded by good friends. Nothing brings people together like a good meal, or a few.
The few days definitely flew by, and it was definitely worth it regardless of our journeys. We celebrated the achievements of everyone in attendance and the time for departures started in waves. We all left on the day looking like the very smiley faces that I mentioned earlier, hopeful that the project will answer the many questions we all have about how the internet affects us.
Currently, I think the biggest barrier to engagement for the app is getting the young people on the app, after which the momentum should carry the research and help us collect the data we need.
The key takeaway from the weekend was that young people are keen to help shape the future of research and to maximise their engagement, we need to actively listen to their ideas and give them agency to shape this research.
