Scouts are introducing badges in content creation, digital communication and online safety after consulting nearly 3,000 teenagers who said they wanted skills to help them navigate a world increasingly shaped by AI, social media and digital technology.

The new Explorer Scout badges, part of the Scout movement’s first major overhaul in almost 25 years, will require 14- to 18-year olds to explore how digital communities shape opinion, create online campaigns, investigate digital footprints and design toolkits to help others stay safe online.

Ministers, schools and parents continue to debate whether children should face tighter restrictions on smartphone and social media use, including proposals for a ban on social media for under-16s.

Among the new badges is a content creation award, which asks young people to explore how digital communities can influence change, create content intended to positively influence their communities and develop digital storytelling projects.

A communication badge includes modules on digital footprints and the impact of social media and digital communication, while a personal safety badge requires young people to design resources to help others manage online risks.

Andrew Thorp, a Scout leader involved in developing the programme, said the changes reflected what young people themselves had asked for. “The programme for Explorer Scouts has not been overhauled for nearly a quarter of a century,” he said.

“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.”

The movement’s approach reflected the changing realities of young people’s lives, he said. “Next year, we’re 120 years old. When Scouts started there were different pressures, different motivations. Life was very different. It taught young people how to do things in a way that was relevant to their lives then.

“Now, clearly these kinds of skills are super relevant. With the development of AI, that will become more and more part of all of our lives.”

The organisation said guidance for the badges would be updated if necessary when the government introduced restrictions on social media use by younger teenagers. He said young people aged 14 to 16 would be reminded not to use social media to share material they created if such a ban came into force.

But Thorp suggested the debate risked missing the point. “This is about giving people skills for the future,” he said. “We focus on creating and understanding content rather than simply publishing it online.”

For many teenagers involved in the programme, that distinction matters.

Elie Mondah, 17, from Romford, said: “These badges are great because we’re not learning about the positive side of AI at school; it’s all about the dangers.

“These new badges are more relevant than the traditional ones for camping and making fires, because it’s key to modern life,” she added.

Ethan Watkins, 14, from Staffordshire, said the new badges would help fill a gap in what young people were being taught elsewhere.

“It’s a really good idea to integrate all the new ideas around AI into the Explorer badges because school isn’t educating us about it,” he said.

“AI is going to be a massive part of my work and education, and so it’s really important for me to learn to use it effectively and safely.”

Thorp said Scouting’s role was to teach young people not just how to use new technologies but how to use them responsibly.

“It’s really important that young people know how to use this stuff safely,” he said. “It’s not just about learning how to do something, it’s about how to do things safely, how to keep them safe in those environments.

“In the same way that Scouts teach young people how to light a fire safely, it’s important that you take that same approach to things like content creation,” he said.