Study Protocol: Transitions, a school based intervention to promote digital citizenship in low- and middle income secondary school students in Perú

Despite the increase in digital media adoption among youth growing up in low and middle income countries, there is an insufficient understanding of adaptive and risky online practices within these settings. There is also a dearth of programs adapted to youth’s contextualized needs that can promote adaptive use of technologies in these settings. The Transitions project aims to (1) understand how children and adolescents access, use and appropriate digital media in Perú, and (2) use this information to adapt a culturally and developmentally appropriate digital citizenship program. The Transitions project is a researcher-practitioner collaboration between the Adolescent Research Collaborative (ARC) at UC Berkeley, Innova Schools in Latin America, and U.S.-based Common Sense Education. In this multiple wave project, we will work with up to 24, 500 children and adolescents aged 9 to 17 years, and 1,021 tutors within a large, low-cost school network that serves low to middle income urban families across Perú. To date, there are 4 waves of this project (the fifth wave is currently underway). Each wave includes surveys on digital media use, well-being and mental health. In each wave, participants also complete a short course on digital citizenship as part of the school advisory or homeroom period. Some waves have included qualitative data collection, gathered from focus groups and workshops. This study will shed light on how youth in Perú access, use and appropriate digital media. This knowledge will enhance our global conceptualization of the relationship between digital media and youth well-being by providing cultural specificity to our general understanding of the developmental science principles at play. In addition, this project will inform the ongoing development of evidence-based programs that can empower youth online.