DearJoanie

DearJoanie (Joanie Scott) is a British agony aunt known for her work with children and young people online. She writes a weekly column within AOL UK's Kids area, providing sensible and timely advice to a younger audience (AOL Keyword: Dear Joanie).

Children can email in problems, and Joanie tries to reply to as many as possible, giving advice and support, and helping the child to find a solution to their problem. There is also a message board (newsgroup) on AOL for children to submit their problems and gain support from each other, which Joanie also moderates and adds any replies where she can.

Her weekly column is known as the "Problem of the Week", which is usually sourced from one of her emails or a newsgroup message, with the problem reproduced (without identifying the original sender) and Joanie's response, but tailored to the wider group of readers.

Joanie is a vocal advocate for safe, welcoming online communities for children and has 10 years experience in this area. In January 2000, she received recognition for her work in the form of a Kidscape Children's Champion Award for her online support of young people.

Joanie lives in Hertfordshire, North of London, with her family, including 2 cats.