Developing a Safe Social Media Use Education Program for Youth
A Library-Based Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29407/jspg.v5i1.1646Keywords:
Social media safety, Digital citizenship, Misinformation, Cyberbullying, Community education.Abstract
This article develops a safe social media use education program for youth through library-based study. The article addresses a practical gap in community education: although youth use social media for learning, identity work, social connection, and participation, many community programs still treat online risk in fragmented ways. A focused literature set was assembled from peer-reviewed studies, prioritizing publications from 2023-2025 while retaining several foundational studies where conceptually necessary. The analysis synthesized evidence on online risk typologies, problematic social media use, cyberbullying, misinformation, social media literacy, algorithmic awareness, digital citizenship, mediation, and school- or community-based interventions. The results show that an effective youth safety program should not rely on fear-based messaging alone. It should combine risk recognition, privacy and account protection, misinformation evaluation, respectful interaction and bystander action, and habit regulation with help-seeking. Based on this synthesis, the article proposes a five-module education program, an implementation matrix, and design principles suitable for schools, youth centres, and community service settings. The article concludes that secondary-data program development can make a meaningful contribution when the output is a usable, evidence-informed intervention blueprint.
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