Young Children’s Rights in a Digital World

Children today are growing up in a digital world that is changing and advancing at an unprecedented rate. While some adults may struggle to keep up with new technological gadgets, we find our very young may be quite at ease with the use of digital technologies, even before learning to speak. This study builds on a foundation of family literacy studies that looks at the literacies children are exposed to within their home environments. Given the influx of technology in children’s home environments, it is important to understand children’s digital literacy developments from a family literacy perspective. Studying two very young children and their families interacting with these new devices provides a deep and detailed look into how digital technologies might be influencing young children’s language and literacy development in first and second languages. Findings from this study can inform parents and educators of what, why and how young children interact and learn with digital devices.

This contribution presents an innovative concept, hybrid-transitions, as a theoretical tool to explore transitions between the digital and non-digital worlds as spaces at the intersection of young children’s agency and the limitations imposed by their position in society. Following a discussion of the idea that the passage between digital worlds and non-digital worlds during the using of technologies by groups of young children is a dense and social space, rather than a mere temporal sequence, the contribution will illustrate its theoretical argument using empirical data, collected during the observation of digital practices in a pre-kindergarten in the City of Boston. In particular, the examples provided suggest that children’s agency may be expressed in form of authorship of narratives based on personal memories and knowledge, evolving into collective interlaced narrative during peer-interaction. In the conclusion, it is argued that adults should carefully observe hybrid transitional spaces, and immerse themselves into the worlds and realms children construct and visit, in order to appreciate and promote children’s creative and, often unseen, social skills.

This study explored how primary school children perceive school surveillance by Closed Circuit TV systems (CCTVs) and how their perceptions relate to their privacy consciousness. It drew on interviews with 57 children, aged 9–12, who were enrolled in three Israeli public schools that had installed CCTVs, and on information gathered from members of the management team of each school. The findings indicated that in all three schools, educators did not discuss the CCTVs with the children. Consequently, most children had various erroneous assumptions regarding the CCTVs, leading some children to wrongly believe that they were seen and heard in almost every corner of the school, including toilets and classrooms. The findings also revealed a tension between normalisation of school surveillance on the one hand, and resistance to excessive surveillance on the other. In addition, the findings demonstrated that even young children, having been born and raised in a digital world with its ubiquitous surveillance, value their privacy and are willing to relinquish it only when they perceive it as justified. The moral balance voiced by the children regarding the circumstances that justify trading privacy for security resembles constitutional analysis.

Background: With the advent of new screen technologies, childhood is increasingly being enveloped into a digital world. Parents find it difficult to limit the screen time in children. Although children may benefit from the educational potential of interactive media, there is growing concern about their overuse during the crucial period of rapid brain development. The objective of the study was to assess screen time in primary school children and its association with child behavior and language development.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1200, primary school children aged 4 to 12 years in Kannur district in North Kerala, India, from September 2019 to March 2020. Pre-structured questionnaires were distributed to parents to assess the total screen time in children and its associations. Behavioral problems were assessed based on Strength and difficulty questionnaire (SDQ). Language and speech problems were assessed using the Language Evaluation and Screening Tool (LEST 3 to 6 years).Results: Majority of the children (69.4%) had screen time between 2 to 4 hours. Screen time was higher among boys, children belonging to joint families and children having low parental education. There was statistically significant association between behavioral problem and screen time. Language development was reported to be delayed with a statistically significant association with the increased electronic screen use. Visual problems were also found to be more with the increase in screen time.Conclusions: Screen use is on the rise in young children and it adversely affect their behaviour and language development. Limiting screen time and improving the quality of the screen content for a child’s overall development is the need of the hour.

Song form, structure, function and ideology are culturally and genre specific. Boiled down to its most basic elements, a pop song is about emotional connection and engagement, whereas its musical theatre cousin is concerned with narrative progression; ‘pop songs are to adjectives what musical theatre songs are to verbs.’ (Lambert, 2015) Lambert articulates a binary perspective on genres, which are actually overlapping in unprecedented ways, in terms of authorship, style, means of distribution, and popularity. This paper explores, not the distinctions, but the points of contact between song forms, with a view to understanding the current creative moment, and, perhaps, anticipating future trends. In contemporary popular music, ‘There are no longer subjective gatekeepers controlling who gets let “in”, promoted and exposed. The choice is ours. Now, anyone can be famous.’ (Price, 2011). This is a transformation also evident in musical theatre, where an upsurge in ‘YouTube musical theatre composers’ (Pasek & Paul, 2015) and social media engagement challenges the dominance of the book musical. Opportunities for self-promotion on the internet are vast, and allow composers to reach a more diverse audience (or wider network), but in what ways do these emerging opportunities also influence the form of works produced. If humans on-line have an average attention span of 8 seconds (Riecke-Gonzales, 2015), for example, this paper considers how musical theatre is evolving to meet the requirements of millennials. The popularity of Dear Evan Hansen - arguably the first truly ‘digital age’ musical (Takiff, 2016)- and Be More Chill provide timely examples of the impact of ‘virtual Broadway’ (Pasek & Paul, 2015) on the musical theatre model. It is both possible and timely to debate the extent to which this hybrid has ‘democratized access to creation and distribution tools’ (Bhargava and Klat, 2017), allowing new voices and models to break through, or has actually limited the genre’s scope. As networks of influence diversify and democratise and the number of people engaging with digital Broadway rises this paper considers the next steps for musical theatre as it discovers the internet.

The International Psychological Forum "Child in a Digital World" is dedicated to the issues of sustainable development of young children and adolescents in the context of the transformation of childhood caused by the digitalization of modern society.

The International Psychological Forum "Child in a Digital World" is dedicated to the issues of sustainable development of young children and adolescents in the context of the transformation of childhood caused by the digitalization of modern society.

The International Psychological Forum "Child in a Digital World" is dedicated to the issues of sustainable development of young children and adolescents in the context of the transformation of childhood caused by the digitalization of modern society.

The International Psychological Forum "Child in a Digital World" is dedicated to the issues of sustainable development of young children and adolescents in the context of the transformation of childhood caused by the digitalization of modern society.

This paper presents an heuristic that underpinned the development of a range of early years applications (apps) as part of the Early Learning Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Australia (ELSA) project (2016–19). The heuristic was developed to address a range of challenges that accompany the use of digital technologies in the year before formal schooling. These include the role of digital technologies in play‐based learning environments, screen time and the importance of agency when young children are using digital technologies. In an increasingly digital world, the issue of screen time looms large as a particularly contested aspect of technology use by young children. The ELSA project responded to this challenge by developing a pedagogical framework that embedded digital technologies into context‐rich, play‐based STEM learning. The Experience, Represent, Apply (ERA) heuristic discussed in this paper is a component of the project's overall pedagogical framework and provides early years educators with the opportunity, and the know‐how, to integrate digital technologies into STEM activities through intentional teaching and play‐based engagement. It was evident from educator feedback at the four days of workshops we delivered, and in other comments throughout the year long trial, that the educators were able to embrace the cyclic nature of the ERA heuristic and ensure that the time spent on the tablet (Represent) was connected to contextualised learning opportunities (Experience and Apply). Importantly, the tablets provided affordances for the children to utilise User Generated Content (UGC) to support active engagement when using the tablets.

In an increasingly digitalised world where everyone seems to have a smartphone, Chapter 16 presents some of the findings from our research with practitioners about their perspective towards mobile touch screen technology (MTST). Data collection in this research includes detailed semi-structured interviews with nine practitioners across two different pre-school settings in the UK. The research examined their general attitudes towards MTST, what roles they believe this new technology can play in the early childhood curriculum, and the reasons for these beliefs. The findings included five main themes: (1) Ubiquity of Technology, (2) Ability in using MTST, (3) Use in Moderation, (4) Value of MTST in Early Childhood Education, and (5) Negative aspects of MTST. These interviews are part of a design based-research project that recognises the unique experience and expertise that early years practitioners have in working with young children and pulling on this knowledge to build a more integrated way of introducing these new forms of technologies. We conclude with some recommendations for early years educational settings to consider when deciding to implement these devices.

As young children increasingly interact with information and communication technologies, they face significant digital safety risks, including exposure to explicit content, online grooming, and the creation of self-generated child sexual abuse material. Despite these growing threats, South Africa lacks a structured digital safety framework within its national early childhood education curriculum, despite the possibility of integration within existing subjects. This study aims to develop a model for effective digital safety education in early childhood. Guided by the digital phallic development framework, which integrates Freud’s psychosexual development theory (specifically the phallic stage) with the CO:RE 3 C’s model of digital safety risks, this study offers a comprehensive lens for understanding sexual digital safety risks in young children. It is further underpinned by the digital safety education collaboration (DSEC) model, highlighting the essential intersectoral partnerships needed for effective digital safety education. Employing a qualitative, constructivist methodology, data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with six stakeholders representing the sectors identified in the DSEC model. Additionally, four authentic South African policy and guidance documents referencing digital safety were analysed. Thematic analysis, supported by Atlas.ti and ChatGPT, revealed a critical need for developmentally appropriate, holistic digital safety education and identified gaps in policy, training, and intersectoral communication. The findings underscore the urgency of coordinated action among the education, community, and legal sectors to empower and protect young children from sexual digital risks in an increasingly digital world. This study contributes to scholarship by creating a theoretical and practical framework for digital safety education in early childhood.

The Toy Brick as a Communicative Device for Amplifying Children’s Voices in Research

ABSTRACTA rich tradition of pedagogical and psychological research has explored the impact of technology on the cognitive and social development of the child. However, little research has focused on the implications of the use of digital technologies in educational settings for children's agency. This article introduces hybrid-transitions as a theoretical tool to conceptualise transitions between the use of digitally enhanced and non-digitally enhanced experiences as dense social spaces where young children show agency in the construction and co-construction of knowledges. Hybrid-transitions refers to children's movement from the immersion in digitally-enhanced experiences generated by educational technologies to non-digitally mediated interactions with peers or adults. This article argues, with the support of examples, that during hybrid transitions digital experiences are shared via personal narratives linking ideas, experiences and emotions. Individual narratives are ‘interlaced’ in co-constructed group narratives authored by the children through face to face interactions. The interactive authorship of interlaced narratives is discussed as a form of agency, as it includes making choices regarding action and understanding of action. This article intends to promote attention to hybrid-transitional spaces among adults who work in educational settings where digital technologies are utilised.

As digital media consumption becomes an integral part of children's lives, early literacy education must evolve to include foundational contemporary literacy skills. While traditional literacy instruction focuses on reading, writing, and comprehension, young learners also need conceptual knowledge about digital media and literacy before engaging with screens independently. This article examines how elementary educators can integrate age‐appropriate digital literacy concepts into instruction without increasing screen time. Drawing on frameworks for digital and social media literacy, we explore practical classroom strategies, including interactive read‐alouds, unplugged coding activities, and participatory discussions, to foster critical thinking and problem‐solving skills in the digital age. Through the case study of an elementary educator integrating these approaches in a library and makerspace setting, we demonstrate how early exposure to digital concepts can support students' future engagement with technology in a developmentally appropriate manner. By embedding these skills into foundational literacy instruction, educators can help young children navigate an increasingly digital world while maintaining a strong emphasis on traditional literacy development.