Building a world where kindness and respect thrive

Rosie Thomas OAM
08:00am September 12 2024

A PROJECT ROCKIT facilitator conducts a workshop for school kids. (Supplied)

Growing up in today’s world is tough.

From the climate crisis to global conflicts, young people face a world that’s more uncertain, complex, and unstable than any generation before them. 

The digital world they navigate is a powerful source of connection and even a lifeline to marginalised young people who can’t access support offline.

However, it is also full of challenges. The pressures of social media, the rise of cyberbullying, and the impact of a constantly connected world can amplify feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and stress.

PROJECT ROCKIT, the social enterprise I started with my sibling back in 2006, aims to educate and empower young people so they can better manage those pressures. 

We know that 37 percent of Australian kids have a smartphone by age 12, one in five young people report being excluded, threatened, or abused online, and complaints of serious cyberbullying among under 14-year-olds have nearly tripled since 2019, according to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner.

These statistics are sobering. But there’s another side to this story - a side that fills us with hope and determination. 

Despite the challenges, young people are using social media in truly transformative ways. They’re connecting with each other, finding safe spaces to express themselves, and leading change on a global scale in ways the world has never seen before.

Take the youth climate action movement. Young activists have harnessed the power of social media to galvanise millions, organise global protests, and drive meaningful change, proving that when young people are empowered, they can turn digital platforms into powerful tools for positive action.

In our recent Digital Pulse Report, we surveyed nearly 10,000 students, and 71 per cent reported that social media is a mostly positive part of their lives. The number one reason? “It connects me to the community.” For many young people, social media is more than just a platform - it’s a lifeline.

This is especially true for our LGBTIQA+ youth, who often find safe spaces online to experiment with their identities, connect with supportive communities, and mitigate the physical and emotional safety issues they face offline. In the midst of a youth mental health crisis, it’s heartening to know that a quarter of young Australians have sought professional help online because they couldn’t access that support offline.*

These realities highlight a critical point: young people experiencing social exclusion encounter harm both online and offline, but they also find unique support and a community online that they may lack in their offline lives.

Young people can and should be leading change on the issues that impact them most. Since 2006, PROJECT ROCKIT has sent passionate young facilitators into schools across Australia to run workshops that help young people stand up instead of standing by.

We don’t blame technology or judge young people. Instead, we work with students to come up with a range of credible and safe strategies to challenge bullying and create inclusive online communities. 

By working with their peers, they’re developing their own strategies to step up and take action when they witness hate. Instead of scrolling past harmful content, these young leaders are choosing to act. Some are typing “dislike” to publicly reject cruelty, others are reporting hate speech, while many reach out directly to support those targeted to let them know they aren’t alone. 

Through our workshops, we’ve directly impacted 600,000 young people who are united against online hate and determined to build a world where kindness and respect thrive.

Access for all

The reality is that not all young people have equal access to these critical resources. Schools facing socio-economic and geographic barriers often struggle to provide their students with the support they need to tackle issues like cyberbullying and mental health. That’s why we established our not-for-profit arm, The Project Rockit Foundation, to ensure that every young person, regardless of their socio-economic status, postcode, or background, can access our programs for free.

Last year, we provided fully funded anti-bullying and youth mental health prevention programs to over 23,500 students from 58 schools who would otherwise have gone without. As part of this initiative, we’ve partnered with the Bank of Melbourne Foundation to support Year 7-9 students in five Victorian secondary schools doing it tough. 

In evaluation, 8 in 10 students reported that they were more willing to support or stand up for someone being treated unfairly or bullied - online or offline.

Our youth-led, face-to-face workshops, combined with innovative digital resources for teachers and parents, are more than just solutions to cyberbullying, online safety, and mental health. By creating spaces for young people to generate strategies, build their confidence, and create healthy peer relationships, we’re equipping them with the skills they need to lead change - at school, online, and beyond.

By elevating young people into genuine leadership roles and building their capacity to lead our initiatives, we provide invaluable opportunities for them to shape their own paths in life.

When I started PROJECT ROCKIT as a young person myself and restless for change against bullying, I could never have dreamed how far this movement would go. We’re on a mission to mobilise one million young Aussies against (cyber)bullying, hate, and prejudice by 2026. Join us in building a world where kindness and respect thrive, and every young person is free to realise their potential.


* Source: Youth-focused mental health education and research group Orygen.

Rosie Thomas OAM

Rosie Thomas OAM is co-founder of Project Rockit, a youth-driven social enterprise aimed at fighting (cyber)bullying, hate and prejudice. Rosie is also a 2020 Westpac Social Change Fellow, has been recognised by UNICEF as a Champion for Children's Digital Rights and has received an Order of Australia medal in recognition to her service to young people.

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