UK Scouts launch AI badges while US Girl Scouts use Google-backed programmes
While national governments and tech giants search for ways to regulate teen activity online, some groups are taking matters into their own hands. For example, Scouts are now introducing new badges on artificial intelligence, digital communication, and online safety.
Girl Scout Eliana trains her camera on sea lion pups. Christina House/Los Angeles Times/Getty.
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While national governments and tech giants search for ways to regulate teen activity online, some groups are taking matters into their own hands. For example, Scouts are now introducing new badges on artificial intelligence, digital communication, and online safety.
- UK Scouts are introducing new badges focused on AI, digital communication, and online safety, aimed at helping teenagers navigate increasingly algorithm-driven online environments.
- The programme is part of the Scout movement’s first major overhaul of its Explorer section in nearly 25 years and comes amid wider efforts in the UK and elsewhere to restrict or regulate social media access for minors.
- The new badges require young people to learn how digital content shapes opinions, understand their online footprint, and create content aimed at positive community impact.
- In the US, digital literacy programmes involving organisations like the Girl Scouts are often supported by Big Tech companies such as Google and Meta, raising questions about corporate influence in youth education.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Scouts can traditionally earn badges for developing certain skills and completing specific challenges, like building a fireplace. Now, kids between the ages of 14 and 18 in the UK Explorer Scout section will be able to work towards achieving three new badges, focused on content creation, digital communication, and online safety.
They were developed after consulting with 3000 young people who said they wanted to achieve skills that would help them navigate AI-shaped digital environments and social media.
The changes form part of the Scout movement’s first major overhaul of the Explorer programme in almost 25 years. It also comes in a time when national governments are aiming to block or restrict social media access to minors.
The UK government plans to ban social media access for under-16s and may add overnight curfews to reduce harmful screen time. The first set of regulations could go into effect as early as Spring 2027, although messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal might be exempt.
It’s a part of a bigger social media ban wave across Europe and the rest of the world that initially started in Australia, in December 2025.
The UK’s media regulator Ofcom has said that 73% of 11- to 17-year-olds in Britain are exposed to harmful content mainly via personalized feeds, with TikTok cited most often. YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat were the runners up.
In order to get the new Scout badges, young people will have to explore things like how digital content can shape opinions, “create a piece of content that aims to positively influence your community or raise awareness of an issue.”
“Research yourself online and find out what information someone could find out about you if they tried,” is one of the criteria stated to get an Explorer’s badge for communication.
“What was really clear is that young people want to be able to get skills that will help them in their lives going forward, and they want to find a place to belong, ” said Andrew Thorp, a Scout leader involved in developing the programme, to The Guardian.
The US scout ecosystem has long been a big tech target
Youth organizations have long been viewed by tech companies as sustainable platforms to reach young people. In the US, Google and Meta have funded digital literacy and similar programmes through organizations such as Girl Scouts, Sesame Workshop, and Highlights magazine. Meta’s Instagram sponsors Girl Scouts.
Their digital safety curriculum requires girls to complete age-specific lessons to earn a “digital leadership” badge. It’s aimed at girls who attend middle-school and instructs them to track their screen time or challenges them to “create digital content to support a topic” they care about.
Last year, Google began sponsoring its own Girl Scouts patch, called the "Be Internet Awesome Fun Patch."
According to Reuters, girls would learn about being kind online, using strong passwords, and keeping personal information private. The patch, available on the Girl Scouts website, features its logo, as well as Google's.
“It's almost priming them to desire to get on social media once they reach the minimum age,” said Brendesha Tynes, a children’s media researcher at the University of Southern California.
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Critics have questioned whether companies who profit from people’s online presence can really be interested in their digital literacy.
When talking to The Guardian, Scout leaders compared digital skills to traditional Scout training, saying that just as young people learn how to safely build a fire, they should also learn how to safely navigate the digital world.