New book provides guidance for children in the digital world

‘Digital Children: A Guide for Adults’ was written by Dr Sandra Leaton Gray (IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society) and Professor Andrew Phippen (Bournemouth University). With Safer Internet Day taking place on 8 February, the book provides a valuable examination of the latest debates around a range of topics, including online safety, computer gaming, sexting, and artificial intelligence, among many others, and how they relate to children’s lives.

Written for parents, the authors examine latest research and offer guidance on how to navigate the evolving digital world and their children’s relationships with technology. In particular, they urge parents not to panic when reading stories in the press or on social media; most of the time, most young people are using digital technology safely and for positive reasons. Panic can inadvertently lead to children being exposed to something they weren’t aware of if they are asked about a new digital platform. Rather, parents should do some research, speak to some young people, and ask their children to tell them if they see anything upsetting online.

The authors stress that rather than relying solely on technology to make the internet a safer place, the focus should be on the quality of relationships between children, their peers, their parents and with adults generally. By doing this, they argue that everyone can work together to create a healthy digital future for society as a whole.

Dr Sandra Leaton Gray said: “As researchers, and parents ourselves, we know how hard it can be to be across all of the issues that influence modern family life. How safe is the outside world? How risky are some of the things children want to do? How much notice should we take of the mass media in deciding what is allowed at home and what isn’t? We hope this book will support parents in having informed family conversations about children’s online lives”.

‘Digital Children: A Guide for Adults’ was published by John Catt Educational in October 2021.

Links

• ‘Digital Children: A Guide for Adults’
• View Dr Sandra Leaton Gray’s research profile
• View Professor Andy Phippen’s research profile
• Department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment