Young people living on or close to the street may panhandle for money, but they probably have a cellphone, says a University of Victoria researcher.
Marion Selfridge, who is working on a PhD in the social dimensions of health, said cellphones and online social media such as Facebook are necessities for many young people who might otherwise seem destitute.
“Even the ones one might have thought of as very marginalized,” Selfridge said, “they are making their way to digital technology, cellphones, iPads, game devices and finding computers wherever they can.”
A social worker for a number of years, Selfridge is studying how young people on the street use digital technology. She will be discussing her research Thursday in a talk at the Central Branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library.
Her research largely stems from a survey conducted in 2014 of 135 young people recruited from Prince George, Victoria and Vancouver.
Selfridge said her survey revealed that the majority — 63 per cent — owned a cellphone. They trade for them, pick them up from people they know who have upgraded, barter for them or even steal them.
But 29 per cent had run out of minutes and 17 per cent had broken phones. Many used their phones just to play games or log on to Wi-Fi at free hot spots.
Selfridge said that as a social worker, she had to accept street youth’s attachment to their cellphones, just as she learned to accept that some people might opt for cable TV even when money was tight for food or rent.
“[Street youth] might prioritize having a cellphone, with pay-as-you-go or even with a plan, because that’s how they are communicating with people,” she said.
Selfridge’s survey revealed that the vast majority of street youth, 94 per cent, had Facebook pages. When they can’t get on Facebook with a cellphone, they use free computers at the public libraries.
She said she became interested in the notion of young people living or hanging out on downtown streets after watching how they would process grief.
Selfridge said street youth have a greater likelihood of dying — eight to 11 times greater than young people living in homes.
They are also more likely to have lives disrupted by moves between schools or foster homes, which can also lead to feelings of loss.
So they have more than the usual experience of grief for their age. Selfridge was fascinated by how they cope through reaching out via digital media.
“I witnessed youth sending out messages and taking care of each other,” she said, adding they would say things like: “ ‘Don’t use as much [drugs] as you might normally might.’ ‘Be thoughtful to each other.’ ‘If you need someone let me know.’ ‘I’m thinking about you.’ ”
Selfridge’s talk is free to the public. It runs 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the Central Branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library, 735 Broughton St.
