Love in the time of Media; exploring young peoples' experiences of learning about sexuality in digital spaces.

The research project aims to explore the ways in which young people learn about sexuality and go on to engage in intimate practices in digital spaces - as a space this provides an informal context for sex and relationship education, which is necessary to understand for more holistic and better informed formal provision. It proposes a mixed methods approach employing quantitative surveys - an internet based questionnaire for scoping - combined with experimental qualitative research drawing on participatory arts-based workshops to explore in sensitive ways the lived experience of sexuality in digital spaces. The research will focus on year 7 and year 11 pupils and address research gaps in sex and relationships education to inform policy in this area, as well as the policy areas of digital competency and well-being.