Centering Children in Digital Conversations

When it comes to the digital world and children, teachers, parents, and governments are often focused on the negatives. The potential of the digital world is intimidating to many, and the desire to protect our children can cause a knee-jerk reaction to keep them away.

But researchers at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) are among the advocates for a different approach to the relationship between children and the digital world. They consider both the potential harms and the potential benefits of the digital world through the lens of children’s rights. This places the child at the center of the conversation and acknowledges their right to fully participate in digital spaces. 

In their work, researchers at LSE sought to fill what they consider to be a gap in knowledge. Their project looked at children in over 20 countries to determine the opportunities, risk, and safety of children participating in the digital world. The results have informed government policy and educational approaches to digital citizenship. 

“Strategies that enable children to use the internet rather than restrict their access, enhance their rights to education and the provision of age-appropriate digital resources,” the research finds. “Governments should improve access and address inequality and children’s digital literacy, offer parents support, and consider platform regulation.”

With this information, researchers at LSE are working to make the digital world a more kid-friendly place. “One thing the pandemic has taught us is that we’re not going to get rid of technology in our modern age,” Professor Livingstone said. “So we need to figure out how we can re-design technologies in a way that respects children’s rights and acknowledges their desire for creative, innovative and free play in the digital environment.”  

You can read more about LSE’s research here.