{"id":6334,"date":"2021-01-18T13:35:10","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T18:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/?p=6334"},"modified":"2021-01-20T17:27:33","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T22:27:33","slug":"make-the-digital-world-safer-for-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/2021\/01\/18\/make-the-digital-world-safer-for-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Make the digital world safer for children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Jasmina Byrne<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 December 2017<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite children\u2019s massive online presence \u2013 1 in 3 internet users worldwide is a child \u2013 too little is done to protect them from the perils of the digital world and to increase their access to safe online content, UNICEF said in its annual flagship report released today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The State of the World\u2019s Children 2017: Children in a digital world<\/a> presents UNICEF\u2019s first comprehensive look at the different ways digital technology is affecting children\u2019s lives and life chances, identifying dangers as well as opportunities.  It argues that governments and the private sector have not kept up with the pace of change, exposing children to new risks and harms and leaving millions of the most disadvantaged children behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual flagship publication of UNICEF makes use of evidence generated by Global Kids Online<\/a> (GKO), a research project and network that supports worldwide efforts to conduct rigorous, comparable research on children\u2019s use of digital technology.A boy in South Sudan holds up his mobile phone, which shows his photograph, as tweeted the previous day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor better and for worse, digital technology is now an irreversible fact of our lives,\u201d said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. \u201cIn a digital world, our dual challenge is how to mitigate the harms while maximizing the benefits of the internet for every child.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report explores the benefits digital technology can offer the most disadvantaged children, including those growing up in poverty or affected by humanitarian emergencies. These include increasing their access to information, building skills for the digital workplace, and giving them a platform to connect and communicate their views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the report shows that millions of children are missing out. Around one third of the world\u2019s youth \u2013 346 million \u2013 are not online, exacerbating inequities and reducing children\u2019s ability to participate in an increasingly digital economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report also examines how the internet increases children\u2019s vulnerability to risks and harms, including misuse of their private information, access to harmful content, and cyberbullying. The ubiquitous presence of mobile devices, the report notes, has made online access for many children less supervised \u2013 and potentially more dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And digital networks like the Dark Web and cryptocurrencies are enabling the worst forms of exploitation and abuse, including trafficking and \u2018made to order\u2019 online child sexual abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report presents current data and analysis about children\u2019s online usage and the impact of digital technology on children\u2019s wellbeing, exploring growing debates about digital \u201caddiction\u201d and the possible effect of screen time on brain development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Global Kids Online Cross-Country Research Partnership<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As co-coordinator of GKO<\/a>, a cross country research partnership, UNICEF Innocenti has played a key role in providing evidence to support this year\u2019s State of the World\u2019s Children report. GKO is an international research project that aims to generate and sustain a rigorous cross-national evidence base around children\u2019s use of the internet by creating a global network of researchers and experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Global Kids Online started out with 4 countries at the end of 2015, with the purpose of conducting pilot studies to inform the development of a research toolkit intended to support high-quality research on children\u2019s online experiences worldwide (Argentina, Serbia, South Africa, Philippines). By the end of 2017, the Global Kids Online network has grown by another 11 countries (Montenegro, Bulgaria, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Ghana, New Zealand, Canada, Albania, India, China), bringing the total number of country partners up to 15, with research implementation taking place in many of these countries in 2017\/2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional facts from the report include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n