Young researchers from the North East Youth Alliance talk of hidden harms faced by today's youth
Last updated 10th Oct 2025
Sporting Wallsend hosted a thought provoking event to deep dive into social harms and how they affect young people.
Practitioners, researchers, and policymakers from across the UK came together last week at a free event explore how young people experience social harm in different parts of the country – and how these harms are too often overlooked in public discourse.
Titled "Regional Perspectives on Young People and Social Harm", the event challenged current narratives that portray young people as potential threats to society – focusing instead on the harm inflicted on young people through social policy decisions, systemic inequality, and underinvestment in youth services.
Concerns about youth involvement in issues such as knife crime, gang activity, and harmful online subcultures like the ‘manosphere’ regularly make headlines. But the event called attention to the broader social and structural factors that underpin these issues – including school exclusion, mental health challenges, poverty, and inadequate support services.
Key contributions included:
• Yusef Bakkali and Luke Billingham, who discussed social harm affecting young people in London, including the impact of criminalisation and lack of opportunities;
• The North East Peer Action Collective (PAC), who shared lived experiences and research findings from young people in the North East, highlighting regional challenges and youth-led solutions.
A panel discussion and interactive Q&A session followed, featuring frontline youth workers, academics, and young people themselves.
Daniel Straughan from NE Youth, lead youth worker on PAC commented:
"This event gave space to voices that are too often left out of policy debates – especially young people themselves,"
"To build a safer, fairer society, we need to shift the conversation from fear of youth to a focus on the real harms they face and the systemic changes needed to address them. The PAC young people gave a real insight on what is means to be a young person in today's world, and are living proof that long term investment in young people results in real, meaningful change. Our team live by the motto, 'if it's for young people, it should be by young people' and this is something we as professionals should all adopt. Young people do not want to be seen as part of a problem; they want to be part of the solution."
The event was proudly supported by the Social Policy Association and the Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding at Durham University.