tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/children-and-technology-11807/articlesChildren and technology – The Conversation2022-08-23T20:04:18Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1889772022-08-23T20:04:18Z2022-08-23T20:04:18ZParents and screen time: are you a ‘contract maker’ or an ‘access denier’ with your child?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480532/original/file-20220823-26-kli3rl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=401%2C5%2C3203%2C1982&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Annie Spratt/Erik Eastman (Unsplash)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Screen time was a battle for parents before COVID and it continues to be a battle, long after lockdowns have ended. </p>
<p>The Royal Children’s Hospital March 2021 <a href="https://www.rchpoll.org.au/polls/top-10-child-health-problems-what-australian-parents-think/">child health poll</a> found too much screen time was parents’ number-one health concern about their kids, with more than 90% of surveyed parents saying it’s a problem. </p>
<p>We are researchers in digital childhoods. Our new research identified four main ways parents try to deal with their children’s use of screens. And all have their benefits and drawbacks. </p>
<h2>Our research</h2>
<p>For our <a href="https://www.digitalchild.org.au/project/pandemic-parenting/">latest study</a>, we interviewed 140 parents in seven different countries – Australia, China, United Kingdom, United States, South Korea, Canada and Colombia – with children ranging from ages four to 11. Twenty interviewees were from Australia. </p>
<p>We wanted to find out how children’s screen media routines changed during COVID and how parents dealt with this. Unsurprisingly, “<a href="https://www.digitalchild.org.au/blog/has-the-pandemic-called-time-on-screentime/">screen time</a>” came up a lot in our conversations with parents. </p>
<p>Underpinning this was parents’ desire for more control of their children’s everyday use of screen media and devices.</p>
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<h2>How do parents control their children’s screen time?</h2>
<p><strong>1. Denying access</strong></p>
<p>Many parents tried denying access to certain screen-related activities with varying degrees of success. They limited children’s access to tablets, computers and phones, TVs and gaming consoles, disconnected them from WiFi when not required for school, or deleted certain apps. </p>
<p>This reduced children’s time on screens, yet often at the expense of family relationships as screen time became a battleground. </p>
<p>Dana* used to block WiFi to the PlayStation at home until 2.30pm every day during the pandemic. It did help her son complete all his school work, but </p>
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<p>[…] he was really disgruntled and you know, saying to his friend, ‘it’s not fair’ or whatever.</p>
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<p>Children also miss out on opportunities to learn critical digital literacy when simply denied access to certain types of screen activities. Not only do they miss out on learning how to identify credible online sources of information and services but they also miss out on parental support when faced with unknown situations. </p>
<p><strong>2. Real-time monitoring</strong></p>
<p>Other parents allowed access to screen media under supervision. </p>
<p>This took various forms, including requiring children to use screen media only in “public” home spaces, setting up password-controlled accounts for children using parents’ contact information, and using parental control apps or settings. </p>
<p>All these measures helped calm parental worries over children’s safety online and gave some sense of control about their use of screens during the pandemic. However, this required a lot more time and energy. As Joanne* said: </p>
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<p>I couldn’t possibly just police it, it was too much […] I just couldn’t be sitting there watching her do work. It would send me around the bend.</p>
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<p>And while parents felt calmer, it didn’t mean they were successful. Children have a knack, believe it or not, of working around parental controls. So it may create a false sense of security. </p>
<p><strong>3. Contract making</strong></p>
<p>Parents in our study found making contracts with young children remarkably successful in the short-term. They set up verbal or written rules with their children about who, how, when and why different devices could be used. </p>
<p>Some families agreed on a “one for one rule” (for example, an hour of non-screen activity for every hour “on screens”), others allocated certain devices for certain activities at certain times of day (for example, gaming on a computer after school until dinner then only TV until the bedtime routine). </p>
<p>While effective in the beginning, parents experienced a slow creep away from the terms of agreement – as long-term habits were not being set up. The creep started with small “negotiations” and sometimes escalated to arguments. Kathy (a mother of two in Melbourne) told us her son “pushed the boundaries so much”.</p>
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<p>And sometimes you were busy. And you didn’t notice that he pushed that boundary. So then it became quite a battle.</p>
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<p>The solution? A screen-free day (or days) to reset the contract.</p>
<p><strong>4. Teaching self-regulation and digital literacy</strong></p>
<p>Self-regulation, as we saw in the study, involves children learning strategies to moderate how and how much they use screens. </p>
<p>While many parents did not start out with this approach, as lockdowns and the pandemic drew on, the demands of work and family life meant they ended up here – almost out of necessity. As Dana told us: </p>
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<p>I kind of feel like the bar shifted massively in lockdown.</p>
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<p>Teaching a child self-regulation and digital literacy is a long game, and requires patience and trust on the part of parents. With parental support, children learn to connect how they feel and behave with the type and duration of technology they just used. They also learn how to regulate feelings and behaviours by modifying their technology use.</p>
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<p>Parents can offer simple strategies to help children self-regulate. These may be similar to the ones used when making a contract but here, the child is in control. For example, the child chooses to set a timer to remind them it’s time to change activities. Or the child pre-plans their digital technology use, in conversation with a parent. The child’s plans should include what they intend to do afterwards too – mealtimes can be used to support a calm transition from one activity to another. </p>
<p>If children come across something online they don’t understand or don’t like, they know they can ask their parents. </p>
<p>In the meantime, parents can teach children how to be safe online, largely by letting their kids see how they navigate the online world. One Melbourne mother Maree, involved her eight-year-old in everyday online tasks, such as shopping. This allowed her to talk about spotting scams, verifying seller information and comparing products. </p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>No matter which approach you choose, it won’t be a perfect one. It is likely you will find a combination of strategies most effective. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most useful question is not about how to stop “screen time”, but how to find ways to talk with your children about using screens safely and in a way that is good for them – that helps their learning and leisure. In a world where screens are all around us, this is going to be an ongoing and constantly changing conversation.</p>
<p><em>*names have been changed.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188977/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Xinyu (Andy) Zhao works for the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child (<a href="https://www.digitalchild.org.au/">https://www.digitalchild.org.au/</a>). This article is based on a research project which received funding from the Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Healy works for The University of Melbourne and is an Honorary Fellow at Deakin University's Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. This article is based on a research project which received funding from the Centre.</span></em></p>New research identifies four main ways parents try to deal with their children’s use of screens. All have their pros and cons.Xinyu (Andy) Zhao, Research Fellow, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, Deakin UniversitySarah Healy, Melbourne Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1838052022-07-24T12:29:30Z2022-07-24T12:29:30ZNostalgia for childhoods of the past overlooks children’s experiences today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475425/original/file-20220721-10583-fvh8jr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C350%2C6000%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Feeling nostalgic isn’t proof of how things used to be. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nostalgia made a comeback under COVID-19. In the context of enforced lockdowns, there was an increase in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2020.1773993">nostalgic activities such as watching classic films, baking and reminiscing</a> with family and friends. </p>
<p>Nostalgia can be defined as a feeling of <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/svetlana-boym/the-future-of-nostalgia/9780465007080/">longing for a better time in the past that no longer exists and may never have</a>.</p>
<p>When it isn’t excessive, nostalgia can be a productive feeling that provides a sense of <a href="https://www.michigandaily.com/statement/nostalgia-time-covid/">continuity, purpose and optimism in difficult times</a>. </p>
<p>As writer Danielle Campoamor explains, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/smarter-living/coronavirus-nostalgia.html">nostalgia serves as a kind of emotional pacifier, helping us to become accustomed to a new reality</a> that is jarring, stressful and traumatic.” </p>
<p>But nostalgia can create an overly simplistic picture <a href="https://reporter.rit.edu/views/hindsight-isnt-always-2020-dark-side-nostalgia">of the past that hinders attention to the present and limits the imagination of a different future</a>. </p>
<h2>What’s the use of nostalgia?</h2>
<p>Since nostalgia often brings to mind memories of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-view-of-an-old-emotion-or-how-science-is-saving-nostalgia-16658">cherished social bonds and togetherness, it may also help people cope with feelings of loneliness</a>. </p>
<p>Cultural theorist Svetlana Boym adds that nostalgia disrupts “<a href="http://monumenttotransformation.org/atlas-of-transformation/html/n/nostalgia/nostalgia-svetlana-boym.html">the irreversibility of time that plagues the human condition</a>” and offers a way of using the past to rethink the present and future.</p>
<p>For these reasons, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2022.2036005">nostalgia may be especially important for people made vulnerable by displacement, bereavement and mental health challenges</a>.</p>
<p>Some people may even experience an increased <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/pandemic-nostalgia-tiktok/620230/">longing for the early days of COVID-19, when lockdowns felt like a break from the rush of everyday life</a>. However, nostalgia reflects an overly positive view of this time, and centres the experiences of those more privileged or protected in society. </p>
<p>In the unfolding context of COVID-19, yearning to return to life as “normal” can also produce <a href="https://www.concordia.ca/cunews/offices/vprgs/sgs/public-scholars-21/2021/06/03/nostalgia-in-the-times-of-COVID-19.html">unrealistic expectations and feelings of impatience, frustration and fear</a>. </p>
<p>Longing for pre-pandemic times may defend against <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/opinion/covid-isolation-narrative.html">the many losses of COVID-19</a> and the uneven effects of illness, online learning and access to resources for <a href="HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.22329/JTL.V15I2.6714">children, young people</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2020.1764319">adults</a>.</p>
<h2>Childhood innocence and toys</h2>
<p>Historically, nostalgia can be linked to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/25601604">childhood and a longing to return to a fantasied state of innocence</a>. </p>
<p>Still today, in dominant popular western imagination, childhood is understood to be a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12428">time before responsibility, before problems and violence and before knowledge about loss and death</a>. </p>
<p>Play objects designed for children are, too, driven by nostalgia. As archaeologist Jane Eva Baxter suggests, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2016.1220046">toys and playthings may say as much about adult longings for childhood</a> as they do about the children for whom they are intended.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Teddy bears." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Toys created for children are also about adult longings for childhood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Teachers remembering childhood</h2>
<p>Our research examines <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-teachers-remember-their-own-childhoods-affects-how-they-challenge-school-inequities-154996">how childhood memories shape the ways prospective teachers and people seeking to work with children understand their roles as future educators</a>. </p>
<p>As part of our work, we asked undergraduate students enrolled in teacher education and childhood studies programs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2022.2063930">to select an object — a token, toy or tool — that they believed to represent childhood</a>. </p>
<p>Participants were asked to discuss their objects in focus groups. A range of objects were shared, including stuffed toys, bikes and binoculars, games and puzzles, drawings and books. </p>
<p>At first glance, there may be nothing surprising about these choices. They might also be said to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv18phh3d">represent normative ideas about child development and the tendency to view children as precursors to productive adulthoods</a>. </p>
<p>However, participants did not simply repeat the norms represented by their objects. They often used them to describe diverse and difficult childhood experiences such as the loss of significant others, questions about gender and sexuality, times of worry, bullying or failure and <a href="https://doi.org/10.37291/2717638X.202232170">how they exercised agency in the face of rigid educational aims</a>. </p>
<h2>Pre-pandemic childhoods and tech-free toys</h2>
<p>While the respondents in our study described their own complicated experiences as children, they returned to nostalgic ideas about childhood when the topic of COVID-19 arose. </p>
<p>In these discussions, technology was a key theme. Specifically, participants emphasized the tech-free qualities of their own objects as more natural, more innocent and more joyful than the gadgets they understood to dominate children’s experiences today. </p>
<p>On the one hand, there are important reasons to be concerned about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2016.1266124">technologies designed for children, particularly in terms of privacy, security and consent</a>. Many youth themselves have <a href="https://theconversation.com/youth-have-a-love-hate-relationship-with-tech-in-the-digital-age-109453">expressed unease about the impacts of technology in their lives</a>. </p>
<p>In the case of emergency online education, teacher education scholar Sarah Barrett further points to the role of technology in <a href="https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v15i2.6683">widening social inequities and the loss of classroom communities</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/classdojo-raises-concerns-about-childrens-rights-111033">ClassDojo raises concerns about children's rights</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>On the other hand, children’s creative uses of technologies may not be so different from their uses of material objects and playthings. <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-you-get-your-child-an-ai-doll-this-holiday-89115">Even as they raise uncertainties, high-tech toys can be outlets for imagination, curiosity and emotional attachment</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A pair of green children's binoculars." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nostalgia can obscure the complexity of current realities and historical experiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What nostalgia forgets</h2>
<p>The problem is that nostalgia may obscure any such debate. Longing for pre-pandemic childhoods can reinforce <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Decolonizing-Place-in-Early-Childhood-Education/Nxumalo/p/book/9781138384538">normative ideas about what counts as a “real” or “natural” childhood, even though these ideas have never included all children</a>. </p>
<p>Nostalgia may therefore overlook <a href="https://www.tcpress.com/sex-death-and-the-education-of-children-9780807776483">the experiences of children themselves, experiences that have always been affected by historic shifts, social inequities and emotional conflicts</a>, much like the participants of our study recalled. </p>
<p>Nostalgia for pre-pandemic childhoods may also forget that <a href="https://peopleforeducation.ca/our-work/towards-race-equity-in-education/">schools have never been safe spaces for everyone</a>, and particularly not for <a href="https://news.ubc.ca/2021/10/19/half-of-canadian-kids-witness-ethnic-racial-bullying-at-school-study/">racially minoritized</a>, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/life/parent/2010/12/03/many_canadian_gay_bisexual_trans_students_bullied_study.html">queer and trans children</a>. </p>
<p>Given such inequities, it is telling that a good number of minoritized children and young people have described the technological shift to online education during COVID-19 as a <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-for-some-children-online-learning-had-unexpected-benefits/">reprieve from the racist, homophobic and transphobic violence of in-person schools situations</a>.</p>
<p>Because nostalgia creates an overly positive view of the past, it may also detract attention from <a href="https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v15i2.6663">the need for structural changes in post-COVID recovery plans within education</a>.</p>
<h2>The good news</h2>
<p>Nostalgia is a powerful emotion that can feel like sure evidence of an idealized time in the past to which we may aim to return. </p>
<p>However, as education theorist Janet Miller suggests, it is important <a href="https://journal.jctonline.org/index.php/jct/article/view/181">“to take responsibility for any nostalgic tales we might spin in terms of simply longing for that often idealized time or place which no longer exists — or more likely, never fully did exist</a>.” </p>
<p>It might be strangely good news to recognize that nostalgia isn’t proof of how things used to be. If we can hold in mind the impossibility of nostalgia’s idealized promises, and if we can take responsibility for the nostalgic tales we do tell, then we might be able to imagine new and inclusive understandings of both childhood and education.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183805/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Farley receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Debbie Sonu receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie C. Garlen receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra Chang-Kredl receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and Fonds de Recherche de Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC)</span></em></p>Childhood wasn’t more ‘innocent’ or ‘natural’ before digital technologies or the pandemic.Lisa Farley, Associate Professor, Education, York University, CanadaDebbie Sonu, Associate Professor, Curriculum and Teaching, Hunter CollegeJulie C. Garlen, Associate Professor, Childhood and Youth Studies, Carleton UniversitySandra Chang-Kredl, Associate Professor in Education, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1339042020-03-19T19:23:21Z2020-03-19T19:23:21ZParents, cut yourself some slack on screen time limits while you’re stuck at home<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321435/original/file-20200318-1972-1bpi1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some of the old rules may no longer apply.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/drawing-has-never-been-thus-interesting-royalty-free-image/902867398">shapecharge/Getty</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>As families hunker down during the coronavirus pandemic, many parents may wonder how much screen time they should let their kids have. Brenna Hassinger-Das, a scholar of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KhghzJQAAAAJ&hl=en">children and technology</a>, shares one rule it’s OK to break, one rule parents can bend and a best practice worth upholding.</em></p>
<h2>1. Break: Previous daily screen time limits</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2591">American Academy of Pediatrics warns</a> parents that letting children spend too much time watching TV shows or playing video games on any device can make them more anxious, reduce their ability to control impulses and disturb their sleep. How much <a href="https://theconversation.com/3-smart-ways-to-use-screen-time-while-coronavirus-keeps-kids-at-home-133896">screen time</a> varies by age. The doctors’ group advises avoiding all screen time, aside from video chats, for babies and toddlers up to 18 months old, and sets gradually increasing limits after that.</p>
<p>Between the ages of 2 and 5, for instance, the academy estimates that kids can safely get up to an hour of daily screen time, as long as their parents or caregivers join in. It advises parents of kids 6 and up to consistently limit time spent using digital media and to make sure that screen time doesn’t displace sleep or physical activity.</p>
<p>As a mom, I have to admit that these recommendations often seem impossible to follow. Personally, I believe that it’s worth breaking this particular rule. I have found the evidence behind the academy’s specific limits not compelling enough to warrant firmly adhering the guidelines with my own child, who is now 6 years old. </p>
<p>Professionally, I’ve observed that the available data <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2018.10.003">doesn’t definitively indicate</a> whether screen time makes kids significantly worse off. It only suggests that several behavioral and health problems might be related to excessive screen time. As I’m now teaching online and working from home, my child has been completing school lessons while relying on devices and spending more time than usual watching TV and playing games on our tablet. Life is changing in my house – as it has no doubt in yours too.</p>
<p>As of now, there’s little compelling evidence backing up concerns over the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13007">dangers of screen time for preschoolers</a>, in particular. So when the parents of little kids let their child watch a video to make it possible for the grownups to make dinner or take a phone call, there’s no reason to beat themselves up.</p>
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<p>Because the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn’t include video chatting as part of a child’s total screen time, it’s a good option to ramp up now, even for the very youngest. And some <a href="https://doi.org/%2010.1111/desc.12430">research suggests that babies</a> can learn new words when they engage in a video chat but not from prerecorded videos. Video chatting can also help kids stay connected with their friends or members of their extended families whom they no longer can see in person. Consider using it to read stories, play the <a href="https://bicyclecards.com/how-to-play/go-fish/">Go Fish</a> card game or just talk about the day’s events.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Psychologist Lauren J. Myers explains how little kids can learn new patterns and words while video chatting.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>2. Bend: Most restrictions on where and when to use devices</h2>
<p>The American Academy of Pediatrics also advises parents to create <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2591">tech-free zones</a> and common situations at home. For example, the doctors’ group says that kids, especially little ones, should never use digital media while eating or during any kind of family gathering.</p>
<p>But I think it might sometimes be worth bending this rule. </p>
<p>Whether they’re coming home from work outside the home, teleworking or simply spending the day taking care of their children, all parents need some time to decompress or tackle household chores. </p>
<p>During this time of uncertainty, it might be time to make even more realistic trade-offs. Maybe it’s been a really tough day and having the whole family watch a TV show together at dinnertime will get you through it all without an argument. You can explain to your kids that this is not the new normal, just something unique to this unprecedented time.</p>
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<h2>3. Keep: Unplugged bedtime</h2>
<p>However, one rule I consider worth keeping even when schools, day care centers and workplaces are shuttered is unplugging from tech at bedtime. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1186%2Fs12889-018-5290-3">Sticking to bedtime routines</a> is really important for young children – those 5 years old and younger. Research indicates that kids with consistent bedtime routines do better in school and tend to behave better than their peers.</p>
<p>Studies suggest that even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/srep46104">babies get less of the sleep they need</a> if they interact with or watch screens at night. The same goes for preschool-aged kids – those between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15402002.2016.1188389">3 and 5 years old</a>.</p>
<p>Using any digital device at bedtime is correlated with <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1177%2F2333794X17736972">losing about half an hour of sleep</a> for children who are between 8 and 17 years old. Remember, if your kids sleep better, they’re likely to behave better too. That will make it easier for your entire family to handle whatever happens next. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Psychologist Connie Schnoes describes why bedtime routines matter.</span></figcaption>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brenna Hassinger-Das does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Families may want to relax some of their usual rules for digital media use due to social distancing. But keeping bedtime screen-free still makes sense.Brenna Hassinger-Das, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Pace University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1338962020-03-19T12:03:35Z2020-03-19T12:03:35Z3 smart ways to use screen time while coronavirus keeps kids at home<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/321424/original/file-20200318-1953-jrhxk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=369%2C726%2C7571%2C4154&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Using tech together with their parents is better for children.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/mother-and-son-playing-on-a-digital-tablet-in-bed-royalty-free-image/1132516158">E+/Getty</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>As families everywhere adjust to social distancing measures like closed schools and child care centers, workplaces and more, parents are grappling with questions regarding their kids’ use of technology. <a href="https://crane.osu.edu/staff-members/rebecca-dore/">Rebecca Dore</a>, an expert on children and media, offers some tips for how to make the most of screen time for kids who are cooped up at home.</em></p>
<h2>1. Choose high-quality educational media</h2>
<p>Rather than handing over the remote or the iPad, parents can help young children by <a href="https://theconversation.com/parents-cut-yourself-some-slack-on-screen-time-limits-while-youre-stuck-at-home-133904">choosing media</a> that’s worthwhile. By the time children are about age 3, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13043">high-quality media</a> like “<a href="https://www.sesamestreet.org/">Sesame Street</a>” can help them learn about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2013.01.001">words, numbers and even important facts about how to stay safe</a>, research has shown.</p>
<p>Kids can also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2019.1650788">learn from apps</a>, such as <a href="http://bedtimemath.org/bedtimemath-app/">Bedtime Math</a> (which has been shown to have <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/350/6257/196?casa_token=GVcuApIKT0oAAAAA:yB7maOeap9g8SK8S4MMopNoFQZvHrvlgrlu7Dq8rODdoxmQWX-s_hbVuHMUTRVRL2E45AGS59H_woZU">long-term effects</a> on children’s math skills), <a href="https://www.sesamestreet.org/game/measure-animal">Measure That Animal </a> (a “Sesame Street” game focused on improving children’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.080">measuring skills</a>) and <a href="https://pbskids.org/arthur/health/nutrition/unicorn-adventure.html">D.W.’s Unicorn Adventure</a> (which uses a fantasy game to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/g4h.2017.0116">teach about healthy foods</a>).</p>
<p>This all means that <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-should-we-teach-our-kids-to-use-digital-media-67446">screen time</a> doesn’t just have to be a way to keep your child occupied while you send some emails or tend to household chores. But where can you find high-quality educational media?</p>
<p>Resources like <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/">Common Sense Media</a> provide research-based information and ratings about all types of media for kids of all ages. They even have a <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/resources-for-families-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic">special page</a> to help families during the coronavirus pandemic. Shows and apps from <a href="https://www.pbs.org/parents">PBS KIDS</a> are all based on child development research and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/parents/activity-finder/ages-all/topics-all/shows-all/types-birthday-party+coloring-and-printable+craft-and-experiment+recipe+game+app">a search tool on their website</a> lets you choose your child’s age and a topic area to search for appropriate media. It also provides related activities that can be done both online and without a device.</p>
<p>Another way to tie learning and screen time is to follow your child’s interests and find educational media to match whatever they are obsessing over. If 6-year-old Robby is begging to make pancakes for breakfast now that he’s not rushing off to school, find a video that shows the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1eesom14EY">science behind how baking soda</a> makes those pancakes extra fluffy. </p>
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<h2>2. Use media with children</h2>
<p>Although adults often use media as a babysitter, young children get more out of it when they use it with an adult. Grownups, after all, can help them understand what’s going on and make connections to the real world. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038041">One study found</a> that when 3-year-olds watched a “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235917/">Dora the Explorer</a>” episode, 75% of them thought the Spanish words in the show weren’t real or said they weren’t sure if they were real.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, those children were <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/missing-the-message-what-_b_9116538">less likely to learn from the show</a>.</p>
<p>Parents can help by watching with children, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032463">talking to them</a> about what they are seeing and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2014.01.002">linking it to their everyday lives</a>. For example, a mom or dad can observe that “Dora speaks Spanish, like your friend Mateo from school.” </p>
<p>Making the time and effort to do this is always easier said than done – especially when kids are home from school and need to be entertained around the clock while their parents are nearby teleworking. But even when you feel like you have no time or energy to watch, listen or play together, there are some ways you can fit some of what experts call “<a href="https://joanganzcooneycenter.org/initiative/the-new-coviewing-initiative-investigating-and-designing-for-joint-media-engagement/">joint media engagement</a>” into a busy schedule. </p>
<p>Have your 4-year-old <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2018.02.002">listen to an e-book</a> at the kitchen table while you’re making dinner. You can pay attention and then talk about it afterwards with your child. Or listen to an <a href="https://gimletmedia.com/shows/story-pirates">age-appropriate podcast</a> together while you’re folding laundry instead of setting your child up with a TV show in the other room. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Vanderbilt University researchers found that parents can help their young children learn from videos if they pause, ask questions and discuss what they’re seeing.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>3. Find ways to create, rather than consume</h2>
<p>Kids can do more than merely use, play with and watch media created by others. Instead, they can use technology in creative and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2012.01323.x">imaginative ways</a>.</p>
<p>For example, tech can help them <a href="https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/">write their own songs</a> or <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/drawing-pad">create works of art</a>. Children can also use smartphones, tablets or computers to create their own videos to share with family and friends. They can have fun filming themselves acting out a play or make an instructional video to teach a grandparent how to play their favorite video game.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Dore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There are ways to use tech to help kids learn, explore their interests and get creative.Rebecca Dore, Senior Research Associate in Early Childhood, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1277272019-12-26T21:40:02Z2019-12-26T21:40:02ZPlaying with old phones teaches children good habits, and reflects our bad ones back at us<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305056/original/file-20191203-67011-16oz061.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C36%2C4031%2C2969&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hard at play: 'technology corner' can teach kids healthy boundaries around device use.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jo Bird</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Screens are everywhere, including in the palms of our hands. Children see how much time we adults spend on our smartphones, and therefore how much we seem to value these devices – and they want to be a part of it.</p>
<p>Children see us constantly looking up information we need to know, and being continuously connected. It’s only natural that they should want to copy this behaviour in their <a href="https://theconversation.com/imitation-and-imagination-childs-play-is-central-to-human-success-7555">play</a>, and “practise being an adult”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/imitation-and-imagination-childs-play-is-central-to-human-success-7555">Imitation and imagination: child's play is central to human success</a>
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<p>Most people have an opinion about children and technology, and the media regularly present stories of their potential for learning, or horror stories of the damage they can cause. My <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjet.12791">research</a> takes a slightly different tack.</p>
<p>Rather than studying children’s screen use per se, I looked at how they play with old and discarded devices, such as a hand-me-down phone handset or an old and defunct laptop that has otherwise outlived its usefulness.</p>
<p>Many early childhood education centres contain play spaces set up to mimic situations in everyday adult life. Examples include “home corner” containing kitchen equipment, of other situations such as offices, hairdressing salons, doctors’ surgeries, and restaurants. These spaces might also let children play at using mobile phones, computers, iPads, EFTPOS machines, or other electronic devices.</p>
<p>I observed classes of 4 and 5-year-olds at two early education centres as they played imaginatively using technologies, to find out how they use devices in their play.</p>
<h2>Facebook aficionados</h2>
<p>Some of the children’s behaviours were fascinating and eye-opening. </p>
<p>Four-year-old Maddie, for example, “videoed” her educator dancing, and then said she was going to post it to Facebook. She knew the process involved, even though she had only ever watched her mother post, and had never done it herself. </p>
<p>Four-year-old Jack made a “video camera” from cardboard boxes and pretended to film other children. It even had a screen where you could watch the footage he had shot. </p>
<p>Another educator told me her two-year-old child knows the difference between her work phone and her personal phone, and uses a different voice while pretending to talk on each. </p>
<p>In my research, children put phones in pockets or handbags before they went off and played, one child stated “I can’t go out without my phone!”</p>
<h2>Practise and pretend</h2>
<p>During <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-up-games-is-more-important-than-you-think-why-bluey-is-a-font-of-parenting-wisdom-118583">pretend play</a>, children are often acting at a higher level to practise new skills.</p>
<p>The children in my study had seen grown-ups doing “grown-up” things with their devices, and wanted to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09575146.2016.1167675">recreate them in their play situations</a>.</p>
<p>Early childhood educators can use this kind of play to help children understand complex concepts and situations. For example, I have observed preschool children acting out tsunamis in the sandpit, discussing X-rays and broken bones, and showing a child how to care for a doll to practise interacting with a new sibling.</p>
<p>Technologies are no different. Parents and educators can use pretend play with technologies to teach children useful life lessons, such as how to behave appropriately with mobile phones, and when it is appropriate to use them. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-mans-trash-how-using-everyday-items-for-play-benefits-kids-105851">One man's trash: how using everyday items for play benefits kids</a>
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<p>In the Facebook example above, the educator could have had a conversation with Maddie about asking permission before taking a video of someone else and posting it to Facebook. They could ask questions like “how would you feel if someone took a video of you dancing and then posted it to Facebook?”</p>
<p>When the children were playing restaurants, one child declared: “no screens at the table!” The children then negotiated that it was okay when the call was very important, or if they needed to look something up to help with whatever the group was discussing. In this way, the children displayed their understanding of the importance of social interactions.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/play-based-learning-can-set-your-child-up-for-success-at-school-and-beyond-91393">Play-based learning can set your child up for success at school and beyond</a>
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<p>Not only can educators teach children through play, they can also model appropriate behaviour with technologies. By asking children if it is alright to take a photo or video of them, showing the child their image before it is shared with others, and being present and not looking at a screen when a child is speaking, we can show children we respect them and behave ethically towards them.</p>
<p>So before you throw away your broken laptop or your old mobile, consider donating it to your local early childhood centre or, if you have children in your own home, give it to them to use as a toy. You might be surprised at what they will teach you.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127727/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jo Bird does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children see adults on smartphones, looking up information they need to know, and being continuously connected. They want to copy this behaviour in their play and practise being an adult.Jo Bird, Lecturer, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/858932017-12-07T02:02:00Z2017-12-07T02:02:00ZWhy digital apps can be good gifts for young family members<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196239/original/file-20171123-21801-zwvhm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Apps can be digital toys used by children to design, create, build, investigate and imagine. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With Christmas approaching, many of us with preschool children or grandchildren will be considering the purchase of apps for our devices. </p>
<p>We are often portrayed in the media as “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/lisa-wilkinson-claims-parents-are-crazy-for-allowing-kids-under-five-access-to-ipads-20160927-grpq0c.html">bad parents or grandparents</a>” for purchasing apps for young family members. But in fact, appropriate educational apps can prepare children for life in an increasingly digital world where the availability of apps is growing every year.</p>
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<h2>Not all screen time is equal</h2>
<p>Concerns about the negative effects of technology are not new. In the past, television, VCR’s, computers, laptops and PlayStation have each been labelled as potential destroyers of the natural order of childhood through <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792691/">media overuse</a>. But the easy availability of apps has made this topic a hot button issue.</p>
<p>The main concern is “<a href="https://aifs.gov.au/publications/childrens-screen-time">screen time</a>”. Sedentary use of digital devices, like TV, computers and iPads, is associated with childhood obesity, poor verbal communication, damaging eyesight, the death of nursery rhymes, or digital addiction. </p>
<p>Apps are often labelled as “<a href="https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/does-your-child-have-a-digital-babysitter-071513.html">digital babysitters</a>”, used to give parents and grandparents a bit of adult time to prepare dinner or answer work emails or even sleep in.</p>
<p>While we acknowledge that extensive and unsupervised use of digital technologies may be harmful, not all screen time is <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2015/03/23/4203084.htm">equal</a> in terms of outcomes for children.</p>
<p>For most children in the developed world, apps are a normal, everyday part of their life and will remain so. Apps are not new to young children. They interact with them in different ways to their parents and grandparents. Children use apps as a form of <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1476718X15579746">digital play</a>. </p>
<h2>Government investment in app development</h2>
<p>The Australian government has invested in developing apps for children in the year before formal schooling under the supervision of a degree-qualified early learning teacher in a preschool service.</p>
<p>These apps are aligned with the <a href="http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/National-Quality-Framework-Resources-Kit/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf">Early Years Learning Framework</a>. So, activities are underpinned by nationally-agreed educational policy for young children. </p>
<p>In 2017, the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/early-learning-languages-australia">Early Learning Languages Australia</a> (ELLA) program was expanded across Australia with A$15.7 million to include more than 1,800 preschools and 61,000 children. It supports the development of languages other than English through seven apps in seven languages. An independent report pointed to <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/Evidence-Base-for-the-ELLA-Program">overwhelmingly positive feedback</a>.</p>
<p>The Australian government is also providing A$5.6 million over three years to pilot the development and use of apps to inspire young children in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The program called [Early Learning STEM Australia ](https://www.education.gov.au/nisa-early-learning-initiatives (ELSA) will be piloted in 100 preschool centres across Australia in 2018.</p>
<p>Given this substantial investment, as well as the expanding use of apps by preschool children, parents and grandparents should consider how they might maximise the benefits associated with app use by selecting apps appropriate for young children.</p>
<h2>Good apps for young children</h2>
<p>Over the past five years, as part of a range of university <a href="https://experts.griffith.edu.au/academic/k.larkin">research projects</a>, we have explored hundreds of children’s apps. While it’s accurate to say many apps for young children are very poor and model inappropriate levels of violence, stereotyping, or mindless activity, some apps may be an appropriate addition in the virtual Christmas stocking this year. </p>
<p>There are over 260,000 “<a href="http://www.pocketgamer.biz/metrics/app-store/categories/">educational</a>” apps available at the app store alone. So, to save valuable Christmas shopping time we suggest <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GL_YAJZMeCNw_6fi7I3tzcp0uJTG-vtrSsllhVsIzNM/edit?usp=sharing">ten appropriate apps for preschool children</a>: </p>
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<li><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/starfall-abcs/id395623983?mt=8">Starfall ABC</a> helps children develop reading skills</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/touchcounts/id897302197?mt=8">TouchCounts</a> lets children use their fingers, eyes and ears to learn to count, add and subtract</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/play-school-play-time/id689871248?mt=8">Play School Play Time</a> encourages kids to play with time while celebrating Humpty’s birthday </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/play-doh-touch-shape-scan-explore/id1092148948?mt=8">Play-Doh Touch</a> allows children to shape a creation with Play-Doh, scan it into virtual reality with the app and build a world of their own creation</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/loopimal-by-yatatoy/id964743113?mt=8">LOOPIMAL</a> is an app to help young children learn about making music</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shape-gurus-teach-shapes-for-my-preschooler/id1015403712?mt=8">Shape Gurus</a> allows children to solve puzzles with shapes and colours as they make their way through an interactive story </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/ukloo/id672310847?mt=8">uKloo</a> is a fun seek-and-find literacy game for preschool children</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/code-karts-pre-coding-logic/id1222704761?mt=8">Code Karts</a> introduces pre-coding to children from the age of four through a series of logical puzzles presented in the form of a raceway</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/crazy-gears/id967327312?mt=8">Crazy Gears</a> is a digital puzzle game, designed with a real mechanical engine and with children’s critical thinking skills in mind</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/gonoodle-kids/id1050712293?mt=8">Go Noodle</a> gets kids moving with screen-time, and has simple mindfulness and yoga activities to help kids relax. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>We looked for apps that form a bridge between digital and non-digital play and encourage children to develop literacy, numeracy, and STEM understanding in playful ways. </p>
<p>Apps then become digital toys to be used by children to design, create, build, <a href="http://adayinfirstgrade.com/2017/03/our-butterfly-inquiry.html">investigate</a> and imagine as they play. </p>
<p>In the digital world we live in now, the decision for parents and grandparents is not the “should or should not” of app use, but rather “how”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85893/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Larkin works for Griffith University. He received funding from the Australian Government to investigate quality apps. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kym Simoncini works for the University of Canberra. She received funding from the Australian Government to investigate quality apps.</span></em></p>Apps which encourage children to develop language, literacy, numeracy and critical thinking skills through play are excellent gifts this Christmas.Kevin Larkin, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Education, Griffith UniversityKym Simoncini, Assistant Professor in Early Childhood and Primary Education, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/855992017-10-27T00:52:54Z2017-10-27T00:52:54ZDon’t use technology as a bargaining chip with your kids<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/191776/original/file-20171025-31500-1owuvk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How often do you take away your kid's phone?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bangkok-31-august-2016-young-thai-476468932?src=3WG1_-cCckGEPTuUrNjMBQ-1-4">RoongsaK/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Do you take away your teenager’s phone to manage their behaviour? Maybe when they arrive home late from a party or receive a bad report card?</p>
<p>Confiscating, time-limiting or permitting additional access to technology has become a popular parenting strategy. <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/01/07/how-parents-monitor-their-teens-digital-behavior/">Surveys show</a> that 65% of American parents with teenagers confiscate phones or remove internet privileges as a form of punishment. </p>
<p>It’s no longer simply a tool of distraction – technology access has become a means of behavioural control. But my recent research suggests that this approach might not be the best idea.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-kids-navigate-fake-news-and-misinformation-online-79342">How to help kids navigate fake news and misinformation online</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>I’ve spoken with 50 Australian families with 118 children aged 1-18 about this issue. The data will be published in 2018. Among my sample, a family with two children owns on average six to eight devices. Some children also had devices from a very young age – the youngest was a one-year-old who received a tablet for her first birthday. The youngest mobile phone owner was six years old. </p>
<p>My qualitative investigation suggests that using technology as a bargaining chip can have adverse effects. It may impact the trust you build with your child and how they use technology.</p>
<h2>The effect on younger children</h2>
<p>For children 12 years and younger, I saw that parents often use technology as a reward for good behaviour. For example, allowing a two-year-old time on a tablet for using the potty “successfully”.</p>
<p>While it’s important to recognise a child’s achievements, kids can begin to associate technology with being “good” and making their parents proud.</p>
<p>As one eight-year-old explained while sitting on the couch with an iPad either side of him, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m a really good boy, that’s why I have two iPads!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This strategy also places emphasis on “use” as opposed to “<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-two-hours-of-screen-time-really-too-much-for-kids-58486">quality use</a>”. </p>
<p>Quality technology use is commonly understood as use that emphasises creativity and problem-solving. It’s important not to encourage kids to think about screen time in terms of gratification alone. Instead, it should enhance learning, help develop one’s sense of self, or facilitate positive connections. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190978/original/file-20171019-1088-1e4g8c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6016%2C4016&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190978/original/file-20171019-1088-1e4g8c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190978/original/file-20171019-1088-1e4g8c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190978/original/file-20171019-1088-1e4g8c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190978/original/file-20171019-1088-1e4g8c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190978/original/file-20171019-1088-1e4g8c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190978/original/file-20171019-1088-1e4g8c9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">To give your kid an iPad or not to give your kid an iPad?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lens-cap/15566635873/in/photolist-pHz5vF-aECoKq-gfWF-aEyyCH-aECpg3-gfWz-gfWC-fmr27-T2qSmk-5v1p2q-b9tfcx-eBQvA-6xGMzr-qWY5AW-dCpR1g-hFCJ7h-b6hPav-8vBVVr-aECp8s-aEyydR-aECpoy-aEyz6P-gfWr-gwmAC2-65aeH3-ntBYKd-qLqacw-gwmN7H-7M8EqF-6P5r5E-Rca5TL-bw2swT-g1EDcJ-ehBnRE-ReNdrz-ogcr3x-fvT5PN-pKxEzD-ZnU1iF-paiV7U-atMLeP-6yh25h-c4Brk-6gdwZL-jcn8Wc-jcq3UW-fNYVKq-6ww837-84xWrA-cTmUtu">Jim Bauer/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The effect on teenagers</h2>
<p>In my study, parents with teens often removed or limited technology use as a punishment. For example, taking a phone from a 13-year-old because he was rude.</p>
<p>In separate discussions, parents and teens talked about the backlash to such actions. While parents often interpreted their protests as the punishment “working”, teenagers in my study explained it differently. </p>
<p>If their phone is taken away, they often withdrew from their parents. Instead of focusing on what they’d done wrong, they fixated on not having a phone and finding someone else’s to use in the mean time. </p>
<p>On top of this, teenagers characterised it as a privacy issue. One girl explained, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don’t know what my mum does with my phone when she has it. She probably searches through it!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Worryingly, some teens interpreted their punishment in ways that could compromise the important messages that parents give children about safety on the internet.</p>
<p>Research shows that healthy family communication is crucial in reducing <a href="http://www.pamspam.com/wp-content/uploads/2017_CSCW_FamilyCommunication.pdf">risky online behaviours</a> such as cyberbullying, contact with a potential predator, or exposure to sexually explicit material.</p>
<p>In response to her phone being confiscated, for example, one 15-year-old girl expressed what many teenagers told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don’t tell my parents much now about what happens to me because I don’t want my phone taken off me.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Three key points for parents</h2>
<p>Our relationship with technology is complicated, so how should it be treated by parents?</p>
<p><strong>Technology shouldn’t be used to fix all problems</strong></p>
<p>Children told me that “the punishment needs to fit the crime!” </p>
<p>Using technology to encourage appropriate behaviour is not the answer unless it is in response to a technology-related incident. Say, a teenager bullying someone online. </p>
<p>If the incident has nothing to do with internet use, use a strategy that will help them understand and improve on the actual behaviour of concern. </p>
<p><strong>Be a positive technology role model</strong></p>
<p>Being a positive technology role model for children means encouraging quality technology use. </p>
<p>For example, setting aside some phone-free time each day so you can be “in the moment” with your child. If you watch online videos with them, make the clips useful, like learning how to design a new garden. Positive interactions can also be demonstrated, such as playing online chess with a friend. </p>
<p><strong>When the punishment doesn’t work</strong></p>
<p>My research suggests that there’s a point when using technology to manage behaviour simply doesn’t work anymore. </p>
<p>It can get too difficult to remove the smartphone each time your child needs to do their homework, for example. It could even cause animosity or unnecessary aggravation.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-do-adults-think-video-games-are-bad-76699">Curious Kids: Why do adults think video games are bad?</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>It’s important to develop a range of strategies that guide child behaviour. These do not always have to be in response to bad behaviour and they do not always need to be extreme. Instead, they could be used to nudge and guide your child towards comprehending their own actions.</p>
<p>We need to shift the focus away from parenting that relies on threats and rewards, to one that nurtures meaningful parent-child and child-technology relationships.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85599/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne Orlando does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We need to shift the focus away from parenting that relies on threats and rewards, to one that nurtures meaningful parent-child and child-technology relationships.Joanne Orlando, Researcher: Technology and Learning, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/744852017-07-11T01:05:18Z2017-07-11T01:05:18ZBanning smartphones for kids is just another technology-fearing moral panic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176098/original/file-20170628-31312-zulp95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Should children under the age of 13 be given access to smartphones?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/funny-little-girl-hiding-behind-white-452166370">Africa Studio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If a few concerned parents have their way, Colorado will be among the first states to ban the sale of smartphones for use by children under the age of 13. After witnessing what he called a “<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/19/health/colorado-preteen-smartphone-initiative/index.html">dramatic, very violent outburst</a>” from one of his sons when taking away his smartphone, a Colorado father (and medical professional) helped create a new lobbying group, called <a href="http://www.pausamerica.com/">Parents Against Underage Smartphones</a> (PAUS). The group <a href="http://www.pausamerica.com/research.html">provides links to a wide range of research</a> into the negative effects of smartphone use on children.</p>
<p>The effort appears to be well-meaning and supportive of healthy childhood development. But from my perspective as a media psychologist, informed by research into the uses and effects of communication technology, I see that the group’s concerns fit a common historical pattern of undue alarm over new technology. Human innovation advances rapidly, but most people’s <a href="http://www.bus.umich.edu/KresgePublic/Journals/Gartner/research/115200/115274/115274.pdf">understanding of new items and capabilities can’t keep up</a>. The result is a sense of moral panic over what we fear will be negative effects on us all, and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.113.128652">even on society at large</a>.</p>
<p>As we know from research on sex education, teaching fear and avoidance of something can’t always protect people from negative consequences: Sexual abstinence instruction doesn’t prevent teen pregnancies, but rather <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0024658">increases their frequency</a>. Moral panics about technology similarly encourage people to withdraw from, rather than engage with and understand, the tools of today and tomorrow. The concerns of parents and groups such as PAUS are valid, but they shouldn’t be dealt with by banning technology. Rather, children and adults should work together to understand new innovations and learn to use them in productive ways.</p>
<h2>A history of technology and panic</h2>
<p>One of the earliest examples of a moral panic related to information technology can be found in <a href="http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/482/482readings/phaedrus.html">Socrates’ concerns about writing</a>. In the lecture later, ironically, recorded in writing as “Phaedrus,” the ancient Greek philosopher said written words divorced information from its original spoken source, and said writing things down would irreversibly weaken people’s memories. These may seem quaint worries today, but they were notable critiques in a time where systematic reasoning and oral debate were bellwethers of intelligence. </p>
<p>In the 1790s, the printing of adventure novels raised concerns that children were compulsively <a href="https://clarin.bbaw.de/en/objects/dta:2340/">reading at the expense of their chores</a>. In the 1920s, people feared that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2011/dec/15/crosswords-meow-meow-1920s">crossword puzzles would contribute to illiteracy</a>. In the 1970s, the video game “Death Race” was <a href="http://gamestudies.org/1201/articles/carly_kocurek">labeled by critics as a “murder simulator,”</a> sparking an <a href="https://theconversation.com/violent-video-games-and-real-violence-theres-a-link-but-its-not-so-simple-63038">ongoing debate</a> about whether video games <a href="https://theconversation.com/playing-at-torture-a-not-so-trivial-pursuit-63982">encourage violence</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176099/original/file-20170628-31312-348sfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176099/original/file-20170628-31312-348sfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176099/original/file-20170628-31312-348sfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176099/original/file-20170628-31312-348sfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176099/original/file-20170628-31312-348sfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176099/original/file-20170628-31312-348sfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176099/original/file-20170628-31312-348sfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176099/original/file-20170628-31312-348sfr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Innovations such as the crossword puzzle were at one time thought to lead to addiction and illiteracy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/waffleboy/35109063700">waffleboy</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Social attitudes regarding technology are not usually formed by <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Diffusion-of-Innovations-5th-Edition/Everett-M-Rogers/9780743222099">direct experience</a>. Rather, they most often come from media reports, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10967516/31">parents and teachers</a> or <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/aca0000052">Hollywood films</a>. As a result, many of our perceptions of technological threats are based on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/dec/27/moral-panics-of-the-year">often-sensationalized anecdotes</a> rather than actual interaction and understanding. </p>
<p>Smartphones may be particularly difficult to evaluate, because one device has so many capabilities – for both good and ill.</p>
<h2>Distinguishing panic from problem</h2>
<p>Skepticism toward technology is important, so we can avoid misusing technology in harmful ways – such as using <a href="https://www.wired.com/2010/11/vintage-shoe-fitting-x-ray-machines-will-zap-your-feet/">X-ray machines to figure out what size shoes</a> a person needs to buy. Indeed, philosopher Philippe Verdoux argues that technological advances <a href="http://jetpress.org/v20/verdoux.htm">increase the chances</a> of any one invention destroying us all. But as worrying as Verdoux’s warning might be, he doesn’t suggest avoiding innovation. Rather, he says the most productive response is to develop a deep understanding of what a given invention’s uses are, including its potential for good and bad consequences.</p>
<p>Moral panics, by contrast, tend to suggest people not use new technologies at all. Abstaining does avoid the costs, but also deprives people of the technology’s benefits. For example, <a href="http://influence-central.com/kids-tech-the-evolution-of-todays-digital-natives/">kids and teenagers with smartphones</a> can use them to <a href="http://www.nea.org/tools/56274.htm">support their educational efforts</a>. And they can <a href="https://www.danah.org/books/ItsComplicated.pdf">help kids’ social lives</a>, keeping them in touch with friends. Safety also comes into play: Concerned about school shootings, many school districts are <a href="https://www.seeker.com/cellphones-are-changing-school-emergency-plans-1766312503.html">reversing bans on smartphone access</a> during school hours, allowing and even encouraging students to use them for emergency communication.</p>
<h2>Using technology safely</h2>
<p>Engaging with new technologies cautiously – and, for children, under adult supervision – is a better approach than banning the unknown. The <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pages/american-academy-of-pediatrics-announces-new-recommendations-for-childrens-media-use.aspx">American Academy of Pediatricians</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-should-we-teach-our-kids-to-use-digital-media-67446">suggests limiting children’s access</a> to computer, smartphone and TV screens. But rather than banning screen time entirely, the group recommends parents and kids work together to figure how how best to use smartphones and other devices.</p>
<p>By discouraging learning, moral panics fuel <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.4018/978-1-59904-885-7.ch057">misunderstanding and unfamiliarity</a>. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00793.x">Millennials don’t actually understand technology</a> as well as people often assume, which could help explain why they <a href="http://www.rasmussen.edu/resources/digital-literacy-in-america/">feel less safe online</a> than older adults do. The connection comes from established research about how fear affects social beliefs: Focusing too much on threats <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03637759209376276">without also discussing skills</a> leads to panic rather than progress.</p>
<p>When it comes to smartphones, it would be odd – and wrong – to ban kids from using the <a href="http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf">digital devices that help define their entire generation</a>. And it wouldn’t help prepare them for jobs and lives in the <a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED519465.pdf">information-saturated 21st century</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74485/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Bowman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teaching fear and avoidance of technology may protect people from negative consequences. But it also prevents them from finding, and benefiting from, productive uses of new innovations.Nicholas Bowman, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/680812016-12-07T13:31:57Z2016-12-07T13:31:57ZApps to keep kids thinking and learning even during school holidays<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148610/original/image-20161205-19407-4xttir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Technology can be a powerful tool for learning.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Sait Serkan Gurbuz</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the summer holidays draw near in many parts of the world, parents shouldn’t be surprised if kids choose to fill their days with technology. After all, teens and tweens are now spending <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/the-common-sense-census-media-use-by-tweens-and-teens">more hours</a> on their devices – iPads, phones and computers – than they are asleep.</p>
<p>Anxious parents will point out how bad this technology obsession is for young people. Too much screen time has been linked to <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/education-34139196">falling grades</a>, <a href="http://news.nationalpost.com/health/kids-are-getting-too-much-screen-time-and-its-affecting-their-development?__lsa=d238-021c">impeded social interaction</a> and a <a href="https://www.sharecare.com/health/parenting/what-negative-effects-technology-kids">lack of exercise</a>. </p>
<p>But there’s a flip side. Several studies support technology’s positive influence on young users. It offers exciting opportunities <a href="http://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/8-Studies-Show-iPads-in-the-Classroom-Improve-Education">for learning</a> and can strengthen <a href="http://www.techtimes.com/articles/140288/20160311/playing-video-games-may-have-positive-effects-on-kids-study.htm">interpersonal relationships</a>.</p>
<p>In the same way that some food is healthy and some has no nutritional benefits, some apps are low in mental fibre. Based on my <a href="http://www.teachernology.com/research.html">own research</a> into how students learn with technology, here’s a guide to getting rid of “junk” apps and ensuring your tweens and teens develop healthy tech habits both in term time and during the school holidays.</p>
<h2>From passive to active</h2>
<p>The key lies in shifting kids from using apps that make them <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-binge-watching-is-to-blame-for-kids-not-learning-51056">passive content consumers</a> to those where they are active content producers. Encouraging the use of activating apps can help children to develop a wide range of 21st century <a href="https://www.envisionexperience.com/blog/13-essential-21st-century-skills-for-todays-students">skills</a> like collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving.</p>
<p>Before I look at apps that will actively engage kids during school holidays, here are the “apps” you should immediately delete from their lives. </p>
<ul>
<li>APPrehension: feelings of inadequacy caused by social media</li>
<li>APProval: the dangerous pursuit of digital validation through “likes” and “followers”</li>
<li>APathy: the increasing desire to passively consume content </li>
<li>APartness: the isolating danger that technology can cause </li>
</ul>
<p>Once these “apps” are deleted, here’s a selection of apps that will not only engage your kids, but help them develop important skills. I’ve selected a few iOS, Android, and Web-based apps (accessible through a browser on any device). The full list is <a href="http://www.teachernology.com/activated-apps.html">available here</a>. I’ve grouped these according to the skills they will develop.</p>
<h2>Activating apps</h2>
<p><strong>Curation:</strong>
Curation apps help kids to develop key skills such as reading, categorising and organising.</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="http://www.pinterest.com">Pinterest</a> (iOS, Android, Web): This popular visual pinboard is great for creating collections of images. How about a pinboard of Disney characters?</p></li>
<li><p>Learning Lab (<a href="https://learninglab.si.edu/create">Web</a>): This site, created by the Smithsonian museum, allows kids to curate museum artefacts.</p></li>
<li><p>List.ly (<a href="http://list.ly">Web</a>): Create fun, shareable lists of websites, videos and more from the web. How about starting with a list of all of the places you want to visit?</p></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Conversation:</strong>
There’s a shift from learning through content consumption to learning through <a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-teach-kids-to-value-questions-even-more-than-they-love-answers-43732">conversation</a> around content in online spaces. Conversation-based apps provide opportunities to debate, discuss and enrich relationships.</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="http://www.maily.com">Maily</a> (iOS/Android): A parent-controlled app that allows kids to create fun messages with drawings and text.</p></li>
<li><p>Playkids Talk (<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.movile.playkids.talk&hl=en">Android</a>): This instant messaging app is for primary school kids. With parental permission kids can send instant messages including photos, voice recordings and graphics to one another.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Correction:</strong>
<a href="https://youtu.be/btx7yqMvmCg">Research</a> shows that one of the most effective ways to learn is through mistakes. Technology allows us to easily experiment, make mistakes and learn through correction. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Scribblenauts (<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/za/app/scribblenauts-remix/id444844790?mt=8">iOS</a>/<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wb.goog.scribbleremix&hl=en">Android</a>): Lets kids bring any object to life simply by typing its name. These objects are then used to solve fun problems.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.getkahoot.com">Kahoot!</a> (Web/iOS/Android): A <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-games-can-hook-students-with-short-attention-spans-56157">gamified</a> take on quizzes that makes learning – and mistakes – lots of fun. You can create your own quiz or try one of the thousands already created. This is a great way to get a group of kids (and adults) learning and laughing together.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Creation:</strong>
Creating content develops key skills such as logic, creative thinking and problem solving. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Book Creator (<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.redjumper.bookcreatorfree&hl=en">Android</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/za/app/book-creator-for-ipad/id442378070?mt=8">iOS</a>) allows kids to create their own books using their own photos, videos and so on. The final book can even be published to the Google Play store or iBooks.</p></li>
<li><p>Monster Physics (<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/monster-physics/id505046678?mt=8">iOS</a>): Lets kids build working contraptions using a range of parts like wheels, rockets and magnets. Once the contraption is built kids can test it to see how it works.</p></li>
<li><p>Scratch (<a href="http://scratch.mit.edu">Web</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scratchjr/id895485086?mt=8">iOS</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.scratchjr.android&hl=en">Android</a>): One of the most powerful ways to teach kids creative thinking and logic is through programming. MIT’s Scratch environment is designed to let kids learn to programme in an easy, fun way.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Chaos:</strong>
Learning to make sense of too much information, missing information, and conflicting information is a skill children increasingly need to develop in our content-excessive world. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Word clouds (Web) are a great way to distil large amounts of text into fascinating visual representations. <a href="https://worditout.com/word-cloud/create">Worditout</a> allows kids to easily create a word cloud from any piece of text. How about creating a word cloud of the news, or a famous speech?</p></li>
<li><p>Mindmaps are useful to help organise your thinking. Corkulous (<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/corkulous-pro/id367779315?mt=8">iOS</a> provides a fun corkboard spin on this concept for kids.</p></li>
<li><p>Sometimes kids can be overwhelmed or bored by content but always enjoy cartoons. Rather than reading or watching them, let your kids create cartoons with <a href="http://toondoo.com">toondoo.com</a> or animations with <a href="http://Powtoon.com">Powtoon.com</a>. How about asking them to create a cartoon that summarises their year?</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Keeping track</h2>
<p>No matter which apps your kids choose, it’s important to keep track of their use. <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/American-Academy-of-Pediatrics-Announces-New-Recommendations-for-Childrens-Media-Use.aspx">Research</a> suggests that screen time should be limited, whether young users are consuming “junk” apps or learning while they swipe. <a href="http://www.ourpact.com">OurPact</a> is a great tool to automate this process. It allows parents to set usage schedules or turn off a device at any time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Blewett runs the website <a href="http://www.activatedclassroom.com">http://www.activatedclassroom.com</a> </span></em></p>Here’s a guide to getting rid of “junk” apps and ensuring your kids develop healthy tech habits both in term time and during the school holidaysCraig Blewett, Senior Lecturer in Education & Technology, University of KwaZulu-NatalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/490642016-01-04T10:39:27Z2016-01-04T10:39:27ZHow children feel when journalists exploit their social media profiles<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/105305/original/image-20151210-7467-11285bs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children's Facebook accounts should not be open doors for journalists. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-304885p1.html?cr=00&pl=edit-00">nevodka">nevodka / Shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today’s children will feature in almost 1,000 online photographs by the time they reach the age of five. That’s according to recent research commissioned by the charity <a href="http://www.nominettrust.org.uk/">Nominet</a> for its online safety campaign, <a href="http://www.knowthenet.org.uk/">Knowthenet</a>. </p>
<p>Recent <a href="http://metro.co.uk/2015/07/16/survey-says-young-people-are-avoiding-booze-to-look-good-these-14-spectacular-drunk-photos-disagree-5298798/">national</a> and <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/shocking-pictures-of-child-smoking-drugs-and-drinking-cider-put-on-facebook-by-mother/news-story/1665be58526e1724bae4c9c651cc83f3">international</a> media coverage illustrates how journalists have used imagery and comments accessed from children’s social media accounts. But who should have access to these images – and what are these children’s rights to them?</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.editorscode.org.uk/the_code_2016.php">revised editors’ code of practice</a> for journalists which came into effect on January 1, unfortunately fails to provide crucial advice on the use of social media images of children. </p>
<p>This is a grey area under the law. Significant questions remain over whether the media should access and publish images and comments from the social media accounts of children and young people and how appropriate it is for journalists to initiate direct contact with minors.</p>
<p>Our society is learning to live with unprecedented levels of media saturation. Young people are among the first to consider whether the publication of photographs and comments on public platforms may have an impact on their future.</p>
<p>Many of those people who work in the media interviewed for my research describe accessing the social networking sites of children and young people as a “reflex action”. One told me: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The first thing any journalist does is to go straight on to Google Images and search. Children’s and young people’s lives are all there. We would go on to Facebook and take pictures and stuff. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Initial findings from my study of the content of print media found that newspapers in Northern Ireland routinely printed photographs accessed from social networking sites of young people who have taken their own lives. The negative impact of this type of journalistic practice was raised by the charity the Samaritans in its <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140122145147/http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Submission-by-Samaritans.pdf">submission</a> to the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press. </p>
<h2>Intruding into young lives</h2>
<p>My research study also included the voices of 33 children and young people in Northern Ireland, aged between 14 and 23, who describe the direct impact of media intrusion on the grieving process. One said a journalist had contacted them 12 hours after a friend’s suicide. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>They don’t respect anything … I just told him straight away ‘No’, but there was quotes and ones from what his family were meant to have said and his family hadn’t released statements.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The levels of intrusion extended to journalists accessing phone numbers and telephoning the young people directly. Some said that they felt this was an intrusion into their privacy, as they had not given permission for such images or comments to be printed: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>They just quoted everything off Facebook, they didn’t ask us any questions but any wee notes we’d put up on Facebook, they just took that as if we’d said that to them.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These young people’s experiences raise a number of significant ethical issues. It is clear that media engagement needs to be carefully managed and monitored. While a comprehensive system of press regulation has yet to emerge after the Leveson Inquiry, several of the largest-circulation UK newspapers have signed up to the <a href="https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/index.html">Independent Press Standards Organisation</a> which has a <a href="https://www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/cop.html">Code of Practice</a> that outlines: “young people should be free to complete their time at school without unnecessary intrusion.” It also states that adult consent must be present prior to interviewing a child under the age of 16.</p>
<h2>No real regulatory sanctions</h2>
<p>But it’s clear from my research that the regulatory rules are being breached, often without the child or young person’s knowledge. Since their inception over 60 years ago, there has been criticism of the regulatory bodies that oversee the media. Much of the criticism relates to the self-regulatory nature of the system as well as the ineffective sanctions and the lack of redress for injured parties.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106777/original/image-20151221-27858-1iw7wbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/106777/original/image-20151221-27858-1iw7wbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106777/original/image-20151221-27858-1iw7wbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106777/original/image-20151221-27858-1iw7wbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106777/original/image-20151221-27858-1iw7wbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106777/original/image-20151221-27858-1iw7wbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/106777/original/image-20151221-27858-1iw7wbk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Should the rules be tightened?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brian A Jackson/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One significant plea from children and youth organisations, such as <a href="http://www.includeyouth.org/">Include Youth</a> in Northern Ireland, <a href="http://www.mediawise.org.uk/children/">Mediawise</a> in England and internationally, <a href="http://www.unicef.org/magic/briefing/childmedia_regulation.html">UNICEF</a>, is for children to be treated as a special case when it comes to media regulation. Children’s and young people’s advocates state that there needs to be a recognition of children’s rights and a genuine willingness to ensure that they are incorporated into the media agenda. </p>
<p>In Northern Ireland, there have been recent initiatives to run <a href="http://www.law.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/FileStore/Filetoupload,501440,en.pdf">workshops</a> and provide <a href="http://includeyouth.org/mgmt/resources/iyintheheadlineswebv5-2.pdf">resources</a> for children and young people that give information about their rights and advice when talking to the media. </p>
<p>Substantial changes are necessary in the media’s professional and ethical practices and the regulatory processes, which now must take social media and journalists’ use of it into account. We need to educate young people on the media’s responsibilities and also the ways in which they can protect their privacy and challenge any breaches of their rights. Crucially, future debates, policies and practices in this area must value and consider children’s and young people’s voices and experiences.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49064/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Faith Gordon received PhD funding from the Department of Education and Learning in Northern Ireland to complete her doctoral research. Faith is a trustee of Headliners UK, the youth and media charity. </span></em></p>Images taken from young people’s Facebook are being used by the media with impunity.Faith Gordon, Research Fellow, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/463252015-08-19T20:23:05Z2015-08-19T20:23:05ZI WANT MY iPAD! Are our kids getting addicted to technology?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92339/original/image-20150819-12418-i8zyzd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1536%2C433%2C3359%2C2462&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">I need it NOW!</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bethany Petrik/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Are toddlers really becoming addicted to technology? There’s certainly a lot of media hype to suggest that they are. And there’s no question the footage of small children breaking down when their tablet is taken away is unsettling:</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5fXZ7Hp-Z8E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A montage of technology-induced tantrums.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Footage such as this is often aimed at showing the evils of technology and the myriad ways digital devices engender bad behaviour among children. </p>
<p>Viewers are often put in a position where they naturally try to apportion blame for such behaviour. In this case, the apparent targets are the technology and even the parents. </p>
<h2>Scare tactics</h2>
<p>As an expert in children, technology and learning, I question the purpose and proper interpretation of content such as this, regardless of whether it’s presented on <a href="http://www.9jumpin.com.au/show/60minutes/stories/2015/july/internet-addiction/">prime time TV</a>, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2548365/As-revealed-one-three-children-use-tablet-talk-fathers-alarming-story-The-day-I-realised-toddler-addicted-iPad.html">headlining a newspaper</a> or a new addition to a <a href="http://www.everychancetolearn.com.au/ipad-addiction-and-kids-three-things-parents-and-teachers-really-need-to-know/">parenting blog</a>. </p>
<p>In recent years society has been inundated with scare tactics around children’s increasing use of technology. To date, media articles have blamed technology for various ills in society such as obesity, insomnia, violence, aggression and language development issues. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, these scare tactics often succeed because they cause a sense of guilt among adults and perpetuate a sense of loss of control. </p>
<p>But this type of thinking doesn’t make sense. It suggests that by removing technology from their lives, children will be fitter rather than overweight, and mental health problems such as aggression and depression will diminish. Children’s health and happiness are essential goals, but magic wand thinking is not going to get us there. </p>
<p>The other obvious target of blame when watching the above footage are the parents themselves, and their seeming lack of ability to control their children’s use of technology. </p>
<p>But, as any parent knows, young children can have tantrums over many things. At this age they’re often not psychologically equipped to delay gratification, so we shouldn’t be surprised at their response to technology. In addition, just because they can’t delay gratification now doesn’t mean they won’t develop the capacity later in life.</p>
<h2>Embracing technology</h2>
<p>Blaming parents for indulging their children is easy, yet many parents correctly recognise that technology is an essential part of modern life. Many professions now require the use of multiple devices over the course of a working day. </p>
<p>In addition, much of our social lives have migrated online, requiring us to make use of technology to stay in touch with our friends and colleagues. Even government support agencies require individuals go online to make a claim or submit an enquiry. </p>
<p>Forbidding children to use electronic devices hampers their ability to engage with the modern world. Research shows that technology offers many educational benefits for children. </p>
<p>These include encouraging them to work with more complex ideas from an <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3tsyrd">earlier age</a>, promoting skills in collaboration and problem solving, accelerating learning in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd8Tdnwicwk">first year of school</a>, <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/12/10/1-to-1-technology-can-benefit-instruction-for.html">helping</a> children with <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/assistive-technology-helping-students-with-disabilities-and-learning-difficulties-succeed-20150406-1mf6l3.html">learning challenges</a> and enhancing <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/themes/icts/m4ed/mobile-learning-week/symposium/unlocking-talent-through-technology-improving-learning-outcomes-of-primary-school-children-in-malawi/">mathematics learning</a>. School curricula around the word rely on technology for this very reason. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92341/original/image-20150819-12414-1l0a0o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92341/original/image-20150819-12414-1l0a0o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92341/original/image-20150819-12414-1l0a0o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92341/original/image-20150819-12414-1l0a0o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92341/original/image-20150819-12414-1l0a0o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92341/original/image-20150819-12414-1l0a0o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92341/original/image-20150819-12414-1l0a0o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92341/original/image-20150819-12414-1l0a0o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children can get a lot out of technology if they engage with it in a positive way.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">henry…/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Balance is key</h2>
<p>For many parents, it seems we are damned if we do and damned if we don’t. We have to weigh the risk of our children growing addicted to their devices against living a technology-free lifestyle and falling behind at school or with their peer groups.</p>
<p>My advice is to shift attention away from the blame game and instead consider our children’s world as it truly is, to focus on facts and reality. </p>
<p>Technology has changed our lives, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Children’s love for digital technology is obvious, and mirrors the devotion many adults have for their devices. Try to restrict an adult’s access to their mobile or tablet and see how they react!</p>
<p>Balance is the key. We must understand how technology can be properly managed so that the main activities <a href="http://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/42463/1/Plowman_McPake_2013_seven_myths_about_young_children_and_technology_.pdf">in the home</a> are not family members isolated in their own technological cocoon. </p>
<p>To encourage positive interactions, parents should provide an opportunity for a wide variety of tech-based experiences that support children’s learning but also develop realistic and consistent messaging about screen time. </p>
<p>Parents also need to model controlled uses of technology themselves. A parent who consistently tells a child to get off their device when they themselves are always on one will not go unnoticed by the child. Balance is important, and in our tech-based society, it’s important for children and adults alike to maintain a healthy balance of activities in their life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46325/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne Orlando does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Footage of children throwing tantrums when their tablet is taken away can be unsettling. But the fact is technology can be good for their development, if they engage with it positively.Joanne Orlando, Senior lecturer, Educational Technology, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/385352015-04-14T20:18:02Z2015-04-14T20:18:02ZOnline and out there: how children view privacy differently from adults<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77870/original/image-20150414-24642-1w6r8nq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children growing up in a world of social media are developing a very different conception of privacy to that of their parents.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/barsen/5466781508/in/photolist-9k5FFA-d1yszw-7pN5Zo-8Vuhv8-ce9Nf-dU4kB4-7Cj5Uu-diRY43-5ESVRc-hsbDX4-53fUaG-9bv2UU-9gCrYX-diXTb2-7oMaEE-rXt3jN-oMRdj7-8vBWcM-8vBVVr-8vBW22-8vBWaH-nFobwz-28jFN6-ac91CY-ac6dGn-ac6bi6-ac934m-ac91sY-ac69NR-ac95jj-ac698T-ac92sb-ac6egH-ac97s5-ac93VG-ac6e1T-ac6aen-ac6exi-ac8ZGs-ac95Yf-5aJUo9-yKBpv-5h6kQC-5oaCxg-5ugLFE-zK4aK-hT9xeh-xTSJw-f7Nth-rhdWqE">Ed Ivanushkin/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you seen the how-to video of a teenage girl styling her hair that went disastrously wrong? She was obviously very disturbed by what happened, yet still uploaded the footage onto YouTube. Do you think a 45 or 50 year-old would upload an equivalent video of themselves? </p>
<figure>
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</figure>
<p>The majority of young people now share lots of things online that many adults question and feel uncomfortable about: their likes, dislikes, personal views, who they’re in a relationship with, where they are, images of themselves and others doing things they should or maybe shouldn’t be doing. </p>
<p>In fact, a study undertaken in the US by <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2013/05/PIP_TeensSocialMediaandPrivacy_PDF.pdf">Pew Research</a> found that 91% of 12-to-17-year-olds posted selfies online, 24% posted videos of themselves. Another 91% were happy posting their real name, 82% their birthday, 71% where they live and the school they attend, 53% their email address and 20% their mobile phone number. </p>
<h2>Overstepping</h2>
<p>Children’s fondness for online sharing is a global phenomenon, and in response governments internationally have initiated awareness campaigns that aim to ensure children are more private online. </p>
<p>In the UK, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children recently launched a <a href="http://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/share-aware/">Share Aware</a> campaign. This includes the recent TV advertisement, called I saw your willy, which depicts the ill-fated consequences of a young boy who as a joke, texts a photo of his penis to his friend. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sch_WMjd6go?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The ad emphasises to children the need to keep personal information about themselves offline and private.</p>
<p>Similarly the Australian Federal Police have launched <a href="http://www.afp.gov.au/media-centre/facts-stats/cyber-safety-and-thinkuknow-presentations">Cyber safety and ThinkUKnow</a> presentations for school students, which highlights the social problems that can arise when you’re having fun online.</p>
<p>Adults often interpret children’s constant online sharing to mean that they don’t care about privacy and/or don’t understand the potential longer-term issues. There is some truth to this perspective. But simply labeling children as either disobedient or naïve is too simplistic. There is an important need to understand why children are overstepping adult-defined marks of privacy online. </p>
<h2>Shifting attitudes</h2>
<p>In the words of Facebook, our relationship status with privacy can be summed up as: it’s complicated.</p>
<p>Part of the complexity comes down to how privacy is defined. Many adults understand privacy to mean being selective about what one reveals about themselves so as not to reveal too much personal information. We often assume that children will adopt the same conceptualisation, but should we? </p>
<p>Privacy is a fluid notion. Think of Victorian times and the imperative for women to keep their ankles hidden. Part of the reason its definition is shaped and reshaped is due to the changing social environment in which we live. This idea is useful for thinking about why children divulge so much information online. </p>
<p>Children are growing up in public (not private) times, in which people freely and constantly reveal themselves on their screens. This is not solely associated with physical nudity and the stream of semi-clad women that constantly inhabit advertisements, music videos and the like. An environment that idolises nudity certainly contributes to children seeing such behaviour as the norm. Privacy, however, is not just about nudity and sex. </p>
<p>Given the exponential growth of reality shows and social media, children now have unprecedented access to the inner thoughts and personal actions of others. Children are growing up watching real people freely share their deep personal ideas, experiences, opinions and actions. The very purpose of these mediums is to encourage such sharing of information! </p>
<p>Children watch everyday people in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-brother-ratings-are-down-but-social-media-use-is-up-33174">Big Brother</a> house openly discuss their sexual experiences, develop friendships, go to the toilet, get ready after their morning shower and, explain deep personal childhood issues. </p>
<p>Similarly, they watch Survivor and The Bachelor where people can reveal the darker side of their ambitions, world-views and ways of dealing with others. Their revelations are under the guise of competition however they offer subliminal messages about what we can and should share publicly share. </p>
<p>Consistently watching others reveal themselves on screen feeds children’s understanding of what is private information and what isn’t. Its impact is strengthened because children watch these revelations on their personal screen such as their tablet or mobile, which can make it more of an intimate, one to one connection for the child. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77869/original/image-20150414-24664-1igbgqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77869/original/image-20150414-24664-1igbgqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77869/original/image-20150414-24664-1igbgqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77869/original/image-20150414-24664-1igbgqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77869/original/image-20150414-24664-1igbgqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77869/original/image-20150414-24664-1igbgqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77869/original/image-20150414-24664-1igbgqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77869/original/image-20150414-24664-1igbgqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children are growing up in a world saturated in social media, and their notion of privacy is adapting in response.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jim Sneddon/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Generation gap</h2>
<p>Add to this, the dynamic stage in life young people are at, which is characterised by risk-taking behaviour. This combination results in the understanding that sharing what many adults might consider to be private ideas, is really just part of life. </p>
<p>In previous generations it was assumed that the average person wouldn’t want to give up privacy. But for this generation, giving up privacy for a social life, fame (or infamy for some), easy access to shopping and studying or working from home is the norm. </p>
<p>Children’s penchant for online sharing is a much larger cultural transformation than it’s given credit for. The whole idea of what is private and what is public is being disrupted and reshaped by new screen-driven interests and activities.</p>
<p>There is a need to move away from simply judging and reprimanding for their online sharing habits. There is always a need for safety and awareness campaigns, although it is also important to move beyond older and outmoded views of privacy so that we can actually understand young people’s privacy negotiations. </p>
<p>In this way we might have more of a chance to meaningfully support negotiations that are transparent, equitable and foster children’s well-being. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Joanne will be on hand for an author Q&A between 3 and 4 pm AEST on Wednesday April 15. Post your questions in the comments section below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38535/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne Orlando does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many people are shocked by what children are willing to share about themselves online. Is it that they don’t understand privacy, or just have a different conception of it compared to adults?Joanne Orlando, Senior lecturer, Educational Technology, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/371732015-02-10T23:44:58Z2015-02-10T23:44:58ZBanning kids from using technology is counter-productive<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71448/original/image-20150209-32062-1a8y7qv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children are accessing technology at an earlier age than ever.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://pixabay.com/en/people-white-phone-holding-kid-315907/">Pixabay</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Taiwan recently made the unprecedented move of <a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/taiwan-revises-law-restrict-amount-time-children-spend-electronic-devices-#xtor=CS1-10">banning children two years and younger</a> from using any form of digital technology. </p>
<p>Older children and teenagers will also be severely restricted, with new laws stating children aged 18 years or less will only be permitted to use electronic devices for a “reasonable” length of time. What is “reasonable”, however, is yet to be defined. </p>
<p>As with the use of any illegal substance or product, severe fines (in the vicinity of A$1,500) are in place for parents should their child break these new laws. This new ruling is a measure to limit children from potentially spending long hours in front of a screen. </p>
<p>In neighbouring China, online addiction among young people has reached <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2008-01/18/content_6406002.htm">epidemic proportions</a>. The Taiwanese government does not want the island nation to follow in China’s footsteps. And they’re not alone. </p>
<p>Children’s use of technology is booming around the world, and this is causing anxiety for many. Governments and lobby groups internationally are making moves to restrict the ways children can use technology. </p>
<p>In an attempt to combat cyberbullying here, the <a href="http://childrenandmedia.org.au/assets/files/news/submissions/2015/accm_submission_senate-online-safety-jan15.pdf">Australian Council on Children and Media</a> is urging the Australian government to launch a debate regarding the age of ownership of smart phones. Current figures indicate that the majority of children get their first mobile phones at about the age of <a href="http://www.examiner.com.au/story/2835516/childrens-phone-usage-researched/">10 years</a>. </p>
<p>This new lobby initiative is based on the premise that many children have unsupervised access to technology, and therefore have a greater opportunity and inclination for cyberbullying. </p>
<p>Japan has moved in a <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/10718254/Children-in-Japanese-city-banned-from-using-smartphones-after-9pm.html">similar direction</a> to combat cyberbullying, with parts of the country introducing a curfew that bans children from using smart phones and mobile devices after 9pm. </p>
<p>Similarly, in a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cris-rowan/10-reasons-why-handheld-devices-should-be-banned_b_4899218.html">recent article</a> in the Huffington Post, a paediatric occupational therapist called upon “parents, teachers and governments to ban the use of all handheld devices for children under the age of 12 years”. Under the proposed guidelines, children older than six would be allowed a total of two hours of screen time, including television, per day.</p>
<h2>Growing up with a screen</h2>
<p>These new laws, initiatives and pleas are motivated by the idea that technology is bad for children, and that only by restricting their access will they be able to grow up happy and healthy. </p>
<p>This suggests that by the single (and seemingly simple) act of removing technology from their lives, bullying will become non-existent, all children will be fit rather than overweight, and that mental health problems such as aggression and depression in childhood will diminish. </p>
<p>Children’s health and happiness are essential goals. However, magic wand thinking is not going to get us there. Children may be young, but this does not mean their lives are simple. There are many factors at work that would lead to a child cyberbullying, just as there are multiple factors that contribute to an individual being obese. </p>
<p>Technology is an intricate part of life today and there is a lot of benefit to its use. Banning or restricting children’s access has far reaching implications for their health and happiness. </p>
<p>Not allowing children to use devices or the internet hampers their ability to engage with the world they live in. Similarly, technology offers many educational benefits for children; school curricula around the word rely on technology for this very reason. If children’s access to technology is restricted, long term implications for children’s opportunities for learning may arise. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71567/original/image-20150210-24691-wcs5bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71567/original/image-20150210-24691-wcs5bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71567/original/image-20150210-24691-wcs5bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71567/original/image-20150210-24691-wcs5bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71567/original/image-20150210-24691-wcs5bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71567/original/image-20150210-24691-wcs5bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71567/original/image-20150210-24691-wcs5bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71567/original/image-20150210-24691-wcs5bi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Digital technology is already being used for education.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/56155476@N08/6660120775/in/photolist-yxYqA-4XyCyW-NQqiS-4eKAoH-dMhnvg-EMg4o-dNqKnu-aXYTxn-b9wRSx-9gBbKk-5NTcS5-2Drhpa-hidCyF-a7c8of-bVUDPe-pkiGT-bVUDxi-eaEk4q-3Cu9z-8248F4-gbEgtL-foiotw-pPHdJZ-5Y81ux-a6YNK1-9nzJS3-b9wxaT-5rcnJa-3KxXuJ-4jfwbB-8BUZTW-62pJ5F-4f11nk-532A5c-4fmm19-wEvAG-532zTa-bcCHV4-6s2yFs-e8VkH4-axkEhL-acALKd-CasrH-4eDyM4-6WM1iC-dCfhzR-62pCdM-L4BMq-HP92Q-adWLig">Lexie Flickinger/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Long-term economic implications could also arise from this. How will children ready themselves for the job market when they are 18 years old if they have had little chance to develop deep knowledge of how to use technology to find, organise and communicate ideas? </p>
<p>It would be like waiting until a child is 18 years old before they can own and use their own literacy tools such as pens, paper and books. This is the knowledge economy, yet this plan is from the dark ages.</p>
<p>With banning devices also comes the need for surveillance. One might envisage that parents or teachers would be expected to undertake this role. Child/parent and child/teacher relationships are vitally important for children.</p>
<p>Research consistently tells us that positive relationships with key adults have long term and unmatched implications on children’s self esteem, confidence and happiness. </p>
<p>A government adding an unfathomable surveillance role of not allowing technology use (in our technology bound society) gives the message that children are not be trusted and will add significant strain to these relationships at a cost to children. </p>
<h2>Embracing technology</h2>
<p>Technology is not going away. Locking children away in a tech-free tower until they are adults is not the answer. Why not shift gear to one of hope, potential and the pursuit of how to live well with these devices? </p>
<p>This doesn’t necessarily mean listening to all the advertising about technology and how it can change our lives, but rather taking a critical approach to considering the benefit it holds for our children and how to achieve it. </p>
<p>Part of this is seeing technology from the perspective of children to understand the value they find in its use and how this matches our own goals for them as they grow and develop. </p>
<p>It also means understanding how technology can be managed in the home so complaints about children’s use do not remain the unwavering focal point. Many families have developed meaningful strategies that work for children and adults. It is these families that should be the starting point for this understanding. </p>
<p>While Taiwan’s tech-laws have been introduced to support the wellbeing of children, learning to grow well with technology rather than restricting it, may be more conducive to that goal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne Orlando does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Taiwan recently made the unprecedented move of banning children two years and younger from using any form of digital technology. Older children and teenagers will also be severely restricted, with new…Joanne Orlando, Senior lecturer, Educational Technology, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/308732014-08-28T20:48:29Z2014-08-28T20:48:29ZKids with Google accounts: how parents can keep them safe<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57466/original/fq3b8fyx-1409105591.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's likely children will come across child-unfriendly content online, regardless of parental control. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ransomtech/13656444374">ransomtech/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You might have seen <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/Google-Seeks-New-Customers-Kids">reports</a> that Google could offer children under the age of 13 years a simple and safe way to access their internet services, including Gmail and YouTube.</p>
<p>But will this new strategy really make a difference to the way the younger generation use the internet? </p>
<p>Google’s accounts are currently only available to individuals 13 years and over, but the move to let children create their own unique presence is uncommon in the online world. The organisation has made this decision under the premise of safety, that parents will be able to monitor their children’s activities when using these accounts. </p>
<p>An anonymous source at Google has also said that the company is working on a <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2583280/YouTube-KIDS-Site-rumoured-working-child-friendly-version-video-sharing-service.html">children’s-only version</a> of YouTube allowing parents to control the content their children can watch online or upload themselves. As a major player in the online world, Google’s consideration of children’s wellbeing is important.</p>
<h2>Data mining and advertising</h2>
<p>As Google’s decision <a href="http://www.independent.ie/business/technology/news/google-courts-controversy-with-plan-for-accounts-aimed-at-children-30521275.html">reverberates</a> through the <a href="http://bgr.com/2014/08/19/google-gmail-and-youtube-for-children/">media</a>, the debate is focusing on the privacy of children and the best ways to ensure their safety. Is Google’s rationale of providing children greater safety a mirage, considering they may now need greater adult supervision regarding what types of information they should and shouldn’t post online when using services such as Gmail or YouTube? </p>
<p>There is also the concern of data mining. There are currently strict laws such as US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (<a href="http://www.coppa.org/coppa.htm">COPPA</a>) governing what internet companies can and can’t do when it comes to tracking the online behaviour of kids for marketing purposes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57455/original/hh893vnd-1409104423.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57455/original/hh893vnd-1409104423.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57455/original/hh893vnd-1409104423.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57455/original/hh893vnd-1409104423.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57455/original/hh893vnd-1409104423.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57455/original/hh893vnd-1409104423.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57455/original/hh893vnd-1409104423.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57455/original/hh893vnd-1409104423.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/markstos/5256272727">Mark Stosburg/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Advocate groups such as the US-based <a href="http://www.democraticmedia.org/">Center for Digital Democracy</a> worry this move will see Google’s digital marketing apparatus target kids for junk food and other potentially harmful products. </p>
<p>Protecting children online is an important social issue, but we must also take into account the fact children are already active users of the internet. Some <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/52630/1/Zero_to_eight.pdf">93% of children</a> between the ages of three and nine go online for eight hours a week.</p>
<h2>Jumping the age-gate</h2>
<p>It’s no surprise that children are already <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/52630/1/Zero_to_eight.pdf">avid viewers</a> of video sharing sites such as YouTube, and many will tell you they prefer to watch YouTube to television as they can choose the content themselves. They can watch videos available to view anonymously (without signing in), as well as those racier videos requiring a sign in. </p>
<p>YouTuber star <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/PewDiePie">PewDiePie</a>, a Swedish video game commentator, has <a href="http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.9052337/k.ECCD/PewDiePie_Celebrates_his_25_Million_YouTube_Subscriber_Milestone_by_Supporting_Save_the_Children.htm?msource=weklppdp0314">millions of followers</a> to his YouTube channel, with a huge number of these children. </p>
<p>While pornography is not permitted on YouTube videos, swearing and adult themes are, and many parents are worried that popular internet stars such as PewDiePie are simply not appropriate for their children. </p>
<p>Children are also avid uploaders of their own content to sites such as YouTube. There is a swathe of videos on YouTube of kids taking part in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/critics-pour-cold-water-on-the-ice-bucket-challenge-are-they-right-30900">ice bucket challenge</a> sweeping the world. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kBgo1KNkTjU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>When I talk to children, as part of my research, about how they watch videos online, they explain they can easily access this content and breach the age-gate imposed by sites such as YouTube. They confide they simply sign into such accounts with a false (older) age – one told me he stated his birth year as sometime in the 1800s, and added that he never gives his correct age “as it’s the internet”. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3850/3075">2011 study</a> undertaken by Microsoft Research and US universities showed while some parents are aware of their children’s false account age, others are not, and instead rely on these internet companies to police their sites.</p>
<p>Of course, not all children are using a false age to obtain these accounts, yet my discussions with 12- and 13-year-olds indicates the majority sign up to accounts at least three or four years before their 13th birthday. </p>
<h2>So what should we do?</h2>
<p>Whether we want it or not, many contributors to the discussion about Google’s plans suggest we must block it to protect our kids. Yet the fact that millions of children under the age of 13 are already using these services indicates this line of thinking is naïve. </p>
<p>Guiding children through cyberspace should not be pitched as a beginning point – this ignores their already extensive online experience. Deliberately dismissing their knowledge counteracts the potential to adequately support children as they encounter adult material online. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57459/original/t7m5ts2d-1409104810.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57459/original/t7m5ts2d-1409104810.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57459/original/t7m5ts2d-1409104810.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57459/original/t7m5ts2d-1409104810.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57459/original/t7m5ts2d-1409104810.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57459/original/t7m5ts2d-1409104810.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57459/original/t7m5ts2d-1409104810.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57459/original/t7m5ts2d-1409104810.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlytle/12446915523">davitydave/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>A crucial starting point for parents and educators is the need for children to understand the funding model driving online content. </p>
<p>While some adults are up in arms about personalised advertising that will now target children thanks to sophisticated data mining strategies, we must consider the other types of personalised advertising offline already in existence. </p>
<p>There are vending machines in schools, broadcast advertisements in school buses and on television and the use of commercial content in classrooms. It can be argued that harvesting kids’ information online is merely a natural extension of the ongoing exploitation of our younger individuals, and some parents may say that political and business references to “children as the future” really refer to children as “future cash flow of business”.</p>
<p>Parental controls over online behaviour is also an issue that needs raising as we naturally expect or assume parents will monitor children’s actions online. But expecting parents to police children 24/7 is unreasonable and naïve, and expecting technology to do the job for us via nanny-type programs is careless. Experience tells us that such programs are not a foolproof option, and many children are adept enough with technology to work their way around these safeguards.</p>
<p>To move forward, we need to educate children to differentiate the types of content available online (and offline). Put simply, we need to teach children to understand the difference between advertising and editorial content.</p>
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<p>Advertisements are not always packaged up obviously and clearly as such, but rather can underpin content in a more subtle fashion. Supporting children to develop the type of astute analytical skills to be able to tell the difference between the two is crucial, considering they are spending more and more time online. </p>
<p>We must also initiate tough conversations with children to help them understand what online content is not child-friendly. We may not want our children to view this content, but the diverse and largely unpoliced nature of the internet suggests it is likely they will at some stage. </p>
<p>Google’s move to open up accounts to children is a good point of reflection for modern society. It helps to clarify where we stand in understanding children’s engagement with technology. Policies and support programs that have children’s well-being as their focus must acknowledge and respect children for who they are. And children today are skilled technology users – more skilled than many adults. </p>
<p>The support we provide must focus on giving guidance that assists them in understanding more fully the world they live in. Rather than letting them fend for themselves, we have to give them strong, real and consistent guidance that is meaningful to them. </p>
<p>In a world where children can list their birthdate as in the 1800s, perhaps Google’s plans aren’t really that shocking after all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30873/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne Orlando has received funding from the ARC and the NSW DET.</span></em></p>You might have seen reports that Google could offer children under the age of 13 years a simple and safe way to access their internet services, including Gmail and YouTube. But will this new strategy really…Joanne Orlando, Senior lecturer, Educational Technology, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/299222014-08-06T05:08:44Z2014-08-06T05:08:44ZUnlocking the habits of Britain’s smartphone generation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55788/original/zzs334m2-1407236275.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">I'm sure I use mine more that you do. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-181613087/stock-photo-boys-playing-on-smartphone.html?src=NGvxfugu8RKRLBus+GQSfw-5-61">Boys and smartphone via Twin Design/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The bond between a child and their smartphone is like an umbilical cord. Now, <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/57598/1/__lse.ac.uk_storage_LIBRARY_Secondary_libfile_shared_repository_Content_EU%20Kids%20Online_EU_KIids_Online_Net_Children_go.pdf">a new survey</a> has uncovered just how dependent the “<a href="https://www.lookout.com/resources/reports/smartphone-family-guide">smartphone generation</a>” of British children are on the devices compared to their European counterparts.</p>
<p>The new survey used 2013 data from <a href="http://www.netchildrengomobile.eu/reports/">Net Children Go Mobile project</a> of 3,500 children across Europe, combined with in-depth interviews, to examine how British children’s use of technology had changed since a <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33730%20/">previous survey in 2010</a>. </p>
<p>Smartphones have now become the most common device through which British children go online: 56% of the 516 British 9-16-year-olds surveyed use them to do so every day. This is more than the European average of 45%. In Britain, the numbers increase with age, as the graph below shows. </p>
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<h2>PCs still trump for games</h2>
<p>By comparison with British children surveyed in the 2010 <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33730/">EU Kids Online survey</a>, children’s use of PCs to go on the internet has halved, although laptop access has held up at 47%. </p>
<p>Interviews with children indicate that for some uses such as playing online games or looking up material for homework, the larger screens and greater processing power still have some advantages. As a result, young people use a variety of devices to go online: tablets, video consoles, even eBook readers. In fact, UK children use a broader range than the European average. </p>
<p>For instance, 16-year-old Alan told us he prefers to go on the PC for many tasks – the graphics quality for playing games is better, and he can type faster on a keyboard. But even he says it is more comfortable to lie in bed watching YouTube on his smartphone.</p>
<p>When 13-year-old Anuj wants to look up something that catches his attention, he pulls the smartphone out of his pocket because he can’t be bothered to go upstairs and boot up his computer. Meanwhile, ten-year-old Genna and her friends are using their smartphones to work their way through over 200 games on the site <a href="http://www.friv.co.uk/">Friv</a>. </p>
<p>These examples illustrate an intriguing finding that most smartphone use is actually at home. But perhaps it’s not so strange when you think that one of the major places where children have historically used more traditional mobile phones has been in the home. </p>
<p>For children, mobiles and smartphones are personal phones, which are with them, or at least at hand, even in the home. Whereas parents can impose spending limits on their children’s data consumption outside the home, using smartphones at home is free on the home wifi. Adults follow these same patterns – but are arguably less conscious about their own data usage outside a home wifi zone.</p>
<p>The smartphone is the most expensive item most children have ever carried around with them on a regular basis. No wonder that parents and teachers advise them to be wary, or at least discrete, about using smartphones in public for fear of theft – advice which many children, especially the younger ones, do heed.</p>
<p>Yet there has only been a muted public debate about the use of smartphones in schools. It seems to be very much a decision for individual schools. Overall, UK schools appear to limit their use quite a lot, as 63% of children in our survey reported that smartphone use is not allowed, and 33% say it is allowed with restrictions. </p>
<p>One can understand the potential for distraction in class time, but children we interviewed reported unsanctioned use in breaks. In fact, 25% of the 516 children we surveyed reported going online on their smartphones daily at school.</p>
<p>When so many appear to break the rules, maybe it is time to reassess the situation. Certainly schools in other countries make different decisions. In Denmark, 70% of children can use their smartphones in schools without any restrictions.</p>
<h2>Dependent, but aware of risks</h2>
<p>So what effects has the smartphone had? Children who use them do more of everything online (although this may be in part because children who are more enthusiastic about the internet are keener to get hold of a smartphone in the first place.) But in interviews, many children also said they felt they did more online because the portable device was so convenient. </p>
<p>On the downside, smartphone users were more likely to be overdependent: 78% acknowledged that their internet use meant they spend less time than they should with family, friends or doing schoolwork. This excessive use was greater than for the other European countries, where the average for excessive use was 61%. </p>
<p>That said, the young people were generally very positive about smartphones, with 59% saying they felt more connected to their friends as a result of using them. The 2010 survey had shown that those who use the internet more in general also encountered more risks – such as cyberbullying, meeting strangers or pornography – but they were no more likely to say it upset them. Basically the same is true of smartphones. Children who used smartphones experienced more risks, but not more harm. Arguably taking risks is part of learning about the online world, part of learning to cope – and part of growing up.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29922/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leslie Haddon receives funding from the European Commission.</span></em></p>The bond between a child and their smartphone is like an umbilical cord. Now, a new survey has uncovered just how dependent the “smartphone generation” of British children are on the devices compared to…Leslie Haddon, Senior researcher and visiting lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications , London School of Economics and Political ScienceLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.