Youth Digital Citizenship

Overview

The average Nigerian teenager encounters more claims in a week than their grandparents did in a year. The Youth Digital Citizenship programme works inside secondary schools, where habits — good and bad — are still being formed.

Each club meets weekly with a trained mentor from journalism or tech. Students learn to verify what crosses their timelines, protect their privacy, recognise scams and cyberbullying, and — crucially — create: podcasts, explainer videos and fact-check segments in their own voices.

Termly camps bring clubs together to compete, share and teach each other. The point is not to scare young people off the internet. It is to make them its most confident, critical users.

What participants gain

• Safe online habits: privacy settings, password hygiene and scam recognition.
• Critical social media use: spotting manipulated content, engagement bait and coordinated campaigns.
• Peer-to-peer literacy: students equipped to teach classmates, siblings and parents.
• Creative production: podcasts, videos and fact-check segments made by students, for students.

What we've achieved

• 12 school clubs in Kaduna and Kano.
• 600+ students reached since 2023.
• 40 volunteer mentors from journalism and tech.
• 3 student-produced series — including a fact-check segment aired on partner radio.

From the field