Autumn, 1997, Vol. 4, No. 1

THE FUTURE IS NOW:
Applying the Internet in Working with Adolescents

By Gary B. Grant, SSA Associate Dean for External Affairs

The Internet is a library, an encyclopedia, and a public forum. It is a meeting place where groups can form and individuals can find others who share common interests or needs. It will not take long for the online social worker to realize the benefits of the Internet--the ability to professionally develop, stay current with changes in the field, gather data, network with other individuals, and collaborate with other organizations.

Because the relevant content is so vast, the sites described below are a minimum of what is available. To explore on your own, I recommend Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com), where you can find many sites relevant to teenagers (http://www.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Age_Groups/Teenagers/), and to social workers (http://www.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Social_Work/).

City Kids (http://www.slip.net/~scmetro/citykids.htm), a site created by the National Children's Coalition, offers a resource list for those working with children and teens in 27 major U.S. cities. Social workers can use the Internet to provide teen clients with ideas for places to go and things to do in their city.

Sites like City Kids offer their own online options for learning and education, socializing and networking, speakingout and participating in projects in new and exciting ways. In addition to general resources, City Kids also has sites for specific groups, such as runaways, teens with mental or physical disability, minority groups, and teenage parents.

Many of these "teen community" sites are not only made for teens, but are made by teens. The ability to personally contribute to online content and take ownership of such areas is an extremely empowering aspect of the Internet.

Parents of adolescent children can also find an abundance of useful sites such as Parents Soup (http://www.parentsoup.com/), which offers a free e-mail newsletter, parental advice, and the chance to ask experts questions. There are a range of chat rooms that deal with general concerns, as well as specific topics such as drug abuse, teen pregnancy, eating disorders, and sexuality.

Online journals or collections of articles are common to many organizations' websites. Child Welfare Review (http://www.childwelfare.com/kids/news.htm) contains numerous articles as well as a reference library of online data sources, such as the Census Bureau and the Green Book.

There are also opportunities for professionals to build a sense of community. One of the best places online for social service organizations is HandsNet (http://www.handsnet.org/), a membership-based service that allows members to post documents in appropriate subject-area forums. Literally hundreds of youth related social service and advocacy organizations are members of HandsNet, and interact daily. HandsNet archives this wealth of experience and knowledge and makes it accessible by simple key word searches.

In addition, social workers interested in advocacy can submit their names to organizations in order to receive email and updates on advocacy issues. Children Now (http://www.childrennow.org/) and the Children's Defense Fund (http://www.childrensdefense.org/), and sites like that of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology (http://www.aacap.org/web/aacap/) help keep practitioner's uptodate on the latest practice knowledge and policy changes. Join Together (http://www.jointogether.org/jto/), is an essential site for anyone dealing with issues of substance abuse. Global sites like The Children's House (http://childhouse.uio.no/) provide a place for people working internationally in any area of child wellbeing to meet and exchange information.

The Internet is also increasingly providing the tools to improve the quality, breadth and efficiency of our work. Advocates are incorporating online features, such as links to media and legislators, into their sites. Now, instead of launching letter writing campaigns to editorial sections and congresspersons, the same can be more easily done from a website. Similarly, organizations such as Voices for Illinois Children (http://www.voices4kids.org/) support their constituencies by making it much more practical for people to be heard: alerts, publications and reports can be published online for a fraction of the cost it takes to print and mail a newsletter.

As this overview demonstrates, the Internet offers comprehensive tools to better serve adolescentsQand all this with only a fraction of the agencies and social workers online. The first step is simply to understand the multiple benefits of the Internet. After that, be creative!

Gary Grant is the Associate Dean of Extemal Affairs at SSA.

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