Helping navigate childhood and adolescence in the digital era
Research | Intervention | protection
– The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost
The Challenge
Curiosity in adolescence is normal. But the internet children are growing up on was not built with them in mind. Exposure to sexual content typically happens young, often by accident, and much of what is readily available depicts violence, aggression and exploitation.
Adolescence is a critical window for neurological and sexual development, identity formation, information-seeking, risk-taking and sense-making. The same drives that make this period so formative can also lead young people towards harmful content. For some, the content they encounter may shape their developing interests. For others, the content they engage with may reflect interests they already have, sometimes interests they themselves feel troubled by and unable to talk about.
Exposure does not always equal harm, but harmful pathways do exist and, as a society, we still know too little about how they form, or how to interrupt them before harm occurs.
The Solution
Most responses to online harm begin after something has gone wrong, or rely on a young person knowing to ask for help. But what if they don’t know they need it?
Adolescence is when interests, identities and patterns of behaviour take shape, and when early support can make the greatest difference. That window is where The Yellow Wood Project focuses. Not on victims. Not on offenders. On children navigating a complex stage of life in a digital world, often without adequate guidance, and where algorithms can shape what they are drawn to before they have had the chance to find out for themselves.
These are children. They are not responsible for the environments they find themselves in, and stigma is the enemy of help-seeking. We don’t assume a single cause behind a young person’s curiosity, experiences or attractions. Whatever brought them to this point, they deserve help that is trauma-informed, non-judgemental and grounded in evidence.
Our Approach
We use behavioural science frameworks to research and map the pathways through which children encounter harmful content: not just what happens, but why, where, and how. Our systems-thinking approach recognises that this urgent public health issue cannot be solved with policy or any one thing alone.
Our research will inform early interventions designed to reach young people where they already are: non-stigmatising, and informed by the evidence of what works with adolescents, including what they tell us. Support for individuals is important, and so is looking for the systemic changes that can shift outcomes at scale.
We believe collaboration is key. Cross-sector partnerships are part of our goal. Sharing what we learn strengthens the collective response. No single organisation will solve this alone; we are committed to building the field as well as our own work.
Research Roadmap
Talk to us
If you work in platform safety, trust and safety, digital policy, behavioural research or child protection, we’d like to hear from you.
We’re seeking partnerships with technology companies, academic institutions, research organisations and civil society. Partnership can take many forms, including data access, research collaboration, funding, advisory input, or simply sharing what you know. The challenges young people face online can’t be solved by any one sector alone.