The full picture of 2023’s screen time, entertainment, social media, gaming and educational trends, explored globally and across five major markets.
In this report
1. BORN CONNECTED: THE RISE OF THE AI GENERATION
2. OUR CONNECTED WORLD: FAMILIES IN 2023
3. KIDS AND APP USE IN 2023
4. ONLINE VIDEO
5. SOCIAL MEDIA
6. GAMING
7. EDUCATION
8. COMMUNICATION
9. THE FINAL WORD
In this report
2. OUR CONNECTED WORLD: FAMILIES IN 2023
3. KIDS AND APP USE IN 2023 IN 2022
4. ONLINE VIDEO
5. SOCIAL MEDIA
6. GAMING
7. EDUCATION
8. COMMUNICATION
9. THE FINAL WORD
This yearly comparison provides insight into the trends shaping future generations. This report looks into how kids and teens used online tools and applications across 2023, while also comparing kids’ most-loved applications over a three-year period, starting in 2021 and finishing in 2023. Following in the footsteps of our previous reports, we have investigated children’s app use globally and in specific major markets: the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, and Australia. For 2023, we have also extended our research to include the habits of children in France, offering a fresh perspective on how children across the world make use of technology.
Our research focuses on children’s app use across five popular categories – online video, social media, gaming, education, and communication. In each category, we present graphs and information detailing the most popular apps based on the percentage of children using them and the time they spent on each. In addition, we break down the overall time spent on apps per category, and the apps that families most frequently blocked in 2023.
Our report also includes findings on parents’, guardians’, and children’s views regarding how parental control and technology fits into their daily family lives. It reveals how parents and guardians monitor and manage their children’s wellbeing, combining technology and their preferred parenting methods to raise a generation born as digital natives.
Founded in 2012 by cyber-security experts Eduardo Cruz, Josep Gaspar, and Josh Gabel, Qustodio is the global leader in online safety and digital wellbeing for families. In 2022, Qustodio became part of the Qoria group, protecting every child’s digital journey through a world-class collaboration between schools, parents, and educators in cyber safety. Qoria’s mission is to support families and schools to live and navigate smarter in an increasingly connected world. Together, we help millions of families and educators across the globe protect children from online harm, while promoting healthy digital habits and awareness.
Methodology
Born connected: The rise of the AI generation is based on anonymous app and online tool usage, provided from over 400,000 families with children aged 4-18 from around the world. It reveals children’s online app habits on mobile devices and desktop devices, from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2023, compared with information from the same period across 2022 and 2021. Our additional data annex extends this comparison to 2019 and 2020. Our findings assess global use, in addition to more localized insights from children in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Australia.
To further explore children’s online habits, we have divided device usage insights across five popular app categories: online video, social media, gaming, education, and communication. Some types of application are frequent multi-taskers, easily fitting into more than one category. For the sake of simplicity, we have chosen just one category per app. For example, while YouTube allows users to comment and encourages social sharing, we have classified it as online video, along with other live video streaming services such as Twitch.
To provide a better picture of the apps and platforms kids are using, our research excludes game launchers such as Epic Games Launcher and Steam, email platforms like Gmail or apps native to specific devices like Phone and FaceTime. Finally, due to the age-inappropriate nature of gambling applications, we have excluded them from our research entirely.
The way that applications are used can also change from one year to the next, which is why we occasionally make updates to our app category classification. This year, we made the decision to remove Snapchat from the social media category, placing it in communication instead, as we believe this more accurately reflects the way children are using the platform and how Snapchat has now come to be viewed in 2023.
In addition, while the format of Twitter is currently evolving, we have classified it as primarily a social network, simply choosing to refer to it as X in this report for the year 2023, and Twitter for the years prior.
SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES, BUILDING SAFER ONLINE SPACES
Our aim with this report is not only to provide insight into how children explore and navigate applications on personal devices, but also to give visibility to devices used during school hours, and the tools students are using in a classroom setting. In order to highlight this, we have also explored the popularity of educational apps and websites used in a classroom setting, with insights provided from the wider Qoria group, scaling 10,000 schools globally.
In addition, in order to better understand how families view and manage technology in their daily lives, we have included information taken from a survey of 950 parents currently using our parental control tools. The parents surveyed were between the ages of 25 and 65, and had at least one child between the ages of 4 and 18 living in their household.
Finally, our report includes individual insights from 100 children aged 10-13, who we interviewed to share their unique understanding of their digital lives and online experiences. We would like to extend our gratitude to the many parents, guardians, and children who helped contribute to this report.
Our connected world: Families in 2023
Our connected world:
Families in 2023
Connecting to the internet. Going online. How long before these terms become obsolete? In today’s world, where most of the population – including its youngest generation – can simply reach into their pocket for their smartphone, there’s no distinction between on and offline. The two have become so intertwined that talking about the difference between them is hardly worth it.
We talk online, learn and explore online, and are entertained online, for hours of the day. Society’s youngest members were simply brought into the world this way – born digital, born connected. Long gone are the days where you’d have to announce your desired presence on the internet: “Mom, can you get off the phone? I said I’d meet my friends on AOL!”
Qustodio parent survey 2023: demographics
Some dangers are the same faced by other generations – millennials grew up with the internet, after all – but when it comes to parenting, adults are all in this together. We’ve never collectively raised children who can carry the internet with them, wherever they go. In addition, AI tools, and the endless possibilities they lie out for us, are brand new for everyone. We have yet to see their long-term effect on our world, both on and off the internet.
Across 2023, we also interviewed over 100 teens and tweens, allowing them to share their experiences with technology, social media, artificial intelligence, and how their families look out for them online. Their reflections can be found throughout this report, along with opinions and input from parents, giving an inside perspective on how families share, learn, and grow with technology in the digital age.
Families and technology in 2023
– Parent of two, 46
– Girl, 12
Having children in your household automatically makes you more likely to own a tablet. 75% of US families with children under 5 have one in their home, as opposed to just 57% of households with no children. With devices such as tablets and laptops so commonplace in the home, it stands to reason that children are using them just as much as adults, if not more – and that parents want to keep these children safe as they explore with technology. Parental control tools have become an integral part of digital life for such families, as a tailored, easily customizable way for everyone in the family to keep their tech use in check.
In fact, just over 1 in 4 parents (28%) believe that the ideal age to start using parental controls on children’s devices is under 3, an age many toddlers are introduced to screen time through TV, tablets, and YouTube videos streamed from a parent’s smartphone.
The majority of families, however, look to parental controls during the tween years: with 7-9 and 10-12 being seen as the ideal age to start implementing their use on any devices children use in and out of the home. Almost 25% of parents believe that 7-9 is the right age to start using parental controls with their children, while 22% believe 10-12 is the ideal, coinciding with the average time a child is now given their own cell phone. In 2015, Common Sense Media revealed 41% of children owned a phone by age 12. Now, according to research from Stanford Medicine, 25% of children receive their own phone by age 10.7, while by age 12.6, this rises to 75% of kids.
Families and technology in 2023
– Girl, 12
– Parent of two, 46
Having children in your household automatically makes you more likely to own a tablet. 75% of US families with children under 5 have one in their home, as opposed to just 57% of households with no children. With devices such as tablets and laptops so commonplace in the home, it stands to reason that children are using them just as much as adults, if not more – and that parents want to keep these children safe as they explore with technology. Parental control tools have become an integral part of digital life for such families, as a tailored, easily customizable way for everyone in the family to keep their tech use in check.
In fact, just over 1 in 4 parents (28%) believe that the ideal age to start using parental controls on children’s devices is under 3, an age many toddlers are introduced to screen time through TV, tablets, and YouTube videos streamed from a parent’s smartphone.
The majority of families, however, look to parental controls during the tween years: with 7-9 and 10-12 being seen as the ideal age to start implementing their use on any devices children use in and out of the home. Almost 25% of parents believe that 7-9 is the right age to start using parental controls with their children, while 22% believe 10-12 is the ideal, coinciding with the average time a child is now given their own cell phone. In 2015, Common Sense Media revealed 41% of children owned a phone by age 12. Now, according to research from Stanford Medicine, 25% of children receive their own phone by age 10.7, while by age 12.6, this rises to 75% of kids.
I think that parental controls should be used from the moment a child has access to a device, including their parents’, or their siblings.
– Parent of one, 50
At what age do you think is the ideal to start using parental controls on children’s devices?
I would prefer to have no limits and that they don’t ask me what I’m looking at.
– Girl, 11
I would prefer to have no limits and that they don’t ask me what I’m looking at.
– Girl, 11
– Parent of one, 50
– Parent of one, 50
Online risks:
the landscape in 2023
Behind the need for parental controls lies risk: with 70% of parents preferring to use these tools before children are 10 years old, parental controls are a way for families to help protect their children from many of the dangers associated with technology and the internet.
When considering what motivated them to monitor their child or children’s devices, parents ranked frequent online harms in the order of most to least worrying. Exposure to adult content or pornography was parents’ main concern, closely followed by online predation: both harms that children are becoming more easily exposed to as they explore online. In the US, more than half of teens (51%) report being exposed to porn accidentally simply by clicking a link, while over in the UK, online grooming crimes rose by over 80% between 2017 and 2022. Keeping children safe from harm, especially when they have no control over their exposure to it, is a high priority for concerned parents.
– Parent of one, 50
Problematic internet use also motivated parents to protect their children’s devices: Online addiction ranked as their number 3 concern, while issues frequently surrounding social media ranked in spots 4-6: cyberbullying, social media use, and concerns about mental health.
Ranking in the bottom positions were wellbeing concerns such as sleep problems and concentration issues, despite evidence showing increased phone usage among young people and adolescents is associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing sleep issues. Collectively, parents placed online privacy as their lowest priority when it came to monitoring their children’s devices.
– Boy, 10
– Parent of one, 50
Problematic internet use also motivated parents to protect their children’s devices: Online addiction ranked as their number 3 concern, while issues frequently surrounding social media ranked in spots 4-6: cyberbullying, social media use, and concerns about mental health.
Ranking in the bottom positions were wellbeing concerns such as sleep problems and concentration issues, despite evidence showing increased phone usage among young people and adolescents is associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing sleep issues. Collectively, parents placed online privacy as their lowest priority when it came to monitoring their children’s devices.
– Boy, 10
I don’t care if my mom supervises me. She wants to make sure I’m safe.
– Boy, 10
I’m not worried about anything. My parents always look at sites I use to make sure they are safe.
I don’t care if my mom supervises me. She wants to make sure I’m safe.
– Boy, 10
Building safer spaces:
Digital tools for digital families
Many families turn to parental controls as a digital solution to a constantly connected environment. While there’s no clear divide for younger people between the on and offline world, device use is still mostly an extremely personal, and solitary experience – meaning parents look for ways to understand how their children are engaging with technology. 76% of parents assert that parental control tools give them more visibility of their child’s digital life.
Families also look to build routines and attitudes surrounding technology that will stick with their children long after they have flown the nest. A further 76% of parents acknowledge that using parental control tools helps to encourage building healthier screen time habits and routines for their family.
Parental control tools also help families in other technology-related matters. 44% of parents report that monitoring tools guide them to have better conversations about digital life, with a further 38% noting their contribution to managing and reducing family conflict. 43% of parents assert parental controls help their children to concentrate and focus on their responsibilities, whether in or out of the home.
Parental control tools also help families in other technology-related matters. 44% of parents report that monitoring tools guide them to have better conversations about digital life, with a further 38% noting their contribution to managing and reducing family conflict. 43% of parents assert parental controls help their children to concentrate and focus on their responsibilities, whether in or out of the home.
Sleep is a key factor in a child’s development, focus, and attention, and technology use has been linked to a negative effect on sleep quality, from exposure to the blue light devices emit. 2 out of every 5 parents surveyed noticed that using parental controls as an aid helped improve their child’s sleep and sleep routines.
– Boy, 10
Building safer spaces:
Digital tools for digital families
Sometimes I think it’s good that they supervise me, but other times I get mad because my friends are still online and I have to get off so my sister can use it.
– Boy, 10
Many families turn to parental controls as a digital solution to a constantly connected environment. While there’s no clear divide for younger people between the on and offline world, device use is still mostly an extremely personal, and solitary experience – meaning parents look for ways to understand how their children are engaging with technology. 76% of parents assert that parental control tools give them more visibility of their child’s digital life.
Families also look to build routines and attitudes surrounding technology that will stick with their children long after they have flown the nest. A further 76% of parents acknowledge that using parental control tools helps to encourage building healthier screen time habits and routines for their family.
Parental control tools also help families in other technology-related matters. 44% of parents report that monitoring tools guide them to have better conversations about digital life, with a further 38% noting their contribution to managing and reducing family conflict. 43% of parents assert parental controls help their children to concentrate and focus on their responsibilities, whether in or out of the home.
Sleep is a key factor in a child’s development, focus, and attention, and technology use has been linked to a negative effect on sleep quality, from exposure to the blue light devices emit. 2 out of every 5 parents surveyed noticed that using parental controls as an aid helped improve their child’s sleep and sleep routines.
When it comes to building these habits and routines, however, tools are just that: a set of features and options that families have at their disposal. What’s important for families is how these tools are used, and which parents and guardians are opting for when building safe online spaces.
– Parent of one, 50
– Parent of one, 50
Parents look to personalize a device in order to keep their children safe as they browse, while also ensuring they have screen downtime, either on a daily or weekly basis: 83% of families make use of tools to set individual limits on applications, such as restricting time on games and social media, and a further 80% of families set uniform weekly or daily time limits across children’s devices.
Aside from building routines, parents look out for their children’s wellbeing in other ways, mostly relating to their safety outside of the home. Half of parents (53%) use monitoring tools to keep an eye on their child’s location, such as when on the way to school or out with friends on the weekend. As a potential measure against parents’ 4th biggest online concern, cyberbullying, 1 in 4 parents choose to track messages on devices, while 19% opt to screen calls, and block certain numbers entirely.
– Boy, 10
– Boy, 10
Parenting: Tech free
approaches
Parenting: Tech free
approaches
Combined with parental controls, what other methods do you use to help keep your child(ren) safe on their devices?
It’s not only digital tools that parents use to keep their children safe as they explore and enjoy devices. Families combine digital tools with family management strategies, the majority of which implicate increased involvement from a parent or guardian.
Most families prioritize dialogue over all other methods, with 87% of parents reporting that they have regular discussions with their children about online habits and behavior. In line with the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations on restricting daily video game time, 2nd in the list of strategies parents use to keep their children safe comes limiting game console time.
– Parent of one, 43
I promote doing outside activities and sports with my child, and do it together with them.
– Parent of one, 43
Some families opt to watch content or play video games together, with 42% of parents relating that they co-watch content with their child or children. Fewer parents get involved in their children’s gaming habits, with 18% stating they co-play video games with them to help keep them safe as they explore devices.
A third of parents prefer device use to be kept to common areas only, meaning technology use is restricted to family areas such as the living room, kitchen, or places where all family members have access. Just 10% of parents actively sit with their child as they use the internet, while 7% of parents stated they use other methods to keep their children safe, such as ensuring their children have tech-free activities to keep them occupied, or keeping devices out of kids’ bedrooms at night.
To help keep your child or children safe as they use their devices, have you ever done any of the following?
We don’t allow our kids to have their devices in their bedrooms overnight.
– Parent of two, 50
– Parent of two, 50
Most parents, however, prefer to keep their children’s social lives private: just under a third of parents follow their own children on social media, while only 1 in 5 parents has ever logged in to their child’s social media profile in an attempt to keep them safe online.
– Parent of one, 43
We have no electronics week every three weeks. NO devices at all for a full week. We call it digital detox. It’s amazing the productivity that occurs that week. All the tasks suddenly get done and toys suddenly get played with.
– Parent of one, 43
Born connected, growing connected
– Boy, 12
– Boy, 12
Monitoring, from home
to the classroom
Monitoring, from home to the classroom
As device penetration increases in schools from year to year, so too does the need for digital monitoring and appropriate technology safety measures in education. 72% of children now use some form of digital device for school: 28% bringing their own device from home to school, versus 44% of children who are provided with a device by the school.
With technology use in the classroom growing, there is increasing need for a school-home connection that keeps children’s use of educational devices safe and productive, wherever they travel. From the UK’s Department of Education setting specific filtering and monitoring standards for students, to Spain’s nationwide effort to install Digital Wellbeing Coordinators in schools, educational institutions are working harder everywhere to keep technology safe as children learn.
– Boy, 13
At school we don’t have any books, just tablets. I’m used to it now, it’s faster and I don’t have to write as much. Plus we save paper.
– Boy, 13
When asked what measures their child’s school had put in place to keep them safe on educational devices, and to support children’s digital wellbeing, most schools (56%) were reported to use a blocking and filtering system to limit content accessed on the school network. The next most common digital wellbeing support that parents reported was the prevention of phones in the classroom: 54% of parents report that their child’s school prevents the use of cell phones altogether.
Classroom management systems can allow teachers to actively monitor student devices during class: for example, viewing students’ screens in real time, or locking screens on a specific URL. However, just 20% of parents report that their children’s teachers are able to manage student devices in the classroom using this kind of system.
Other methods focusing less on device removal or active filtering proved less popular in an educational setting: 24% of parents reported that their child’s school helps educate parents on digital habits for children, with the same number also reporting that their children were following a digital citizenship curriculum.
Often, parents are unaware of the security systems or digital wellbeing practices put in place by their child’s school: 19% of parents reported that they don’t know if any digital wellbeing support is actually available at their child’s school. Family support for managing school devices is also lacking in many cases: just 8% of parents state that their child’s school helps them manage educational devices outside of the classroom.
– Girl, 13
– Girl, 12
– Girl, 13
– Girl, 12
In addition to existing security measures, adaptation to even newer technologies will also need to be taken into account: with the rise of artificial intelligence, schools around the world are implementing measures to either work with or counter its use, depending on where they stand on the matter.
There’s no doubt that children will be graduating into a world where AI technologies are part of their day to day, and using them effectively and efficiently is a skill educators (and parents alike) need to help young people navigate. In Australia, after initially restricting use of ChatGPT, ministers built a national framework for the tool across 2023, planning to embrace AI in learning early 2024. In late 2023, UNESCO also released global guidance on generative AI in the classroom, working to address both the opportunities and potential harms that these tools could cause in an educational environment.
The future for families
My teachers don’t like AI tools and they say it’s like copying, but I think they’re pretty useful.
– Girl, 13
AI gets it right but sometimes
[the answers] just aren’t believable
at all.
– Girl, 11
– Girl, 13
– Girl, 12
2023’s year in technology was truly defined by AI: across 12 months, artificial intelligence tools experienced an explosion in popularity, becoming much more widely available to anyone and everyone online. Arguably the AI star of the year, ChatGPT wasn’t actually released in 2023, but in late 2022. However, it wasn’t until January of the following year that the hype truly took off, with the tool hitting 100 million users and securing its place as the fastest-growing application in history. Between 2023 and 2030, growth of AI tools is expected to increase by almost 40% per year, showing artificial intelligence is truly here to stay – a technology that young people, and their families alike, need to adapt to before they get left behind.
Despite the sudden boom and media frenzy surrounding AI, 2023 was still a year of adoption and discovery for most. Out of the 200 10-13 year-olds we spoke to, only 6% told us that they actively used AI when asked, but over half responded that they were active on social media.
I use ChatGPT and Bing Chat. I feel that they give good answers to my questions. I love using AI for schoolwork because it makes homework and studying much easier. The only thing I worry about online is giving out personal information.
– Girl, 11
and smart, it almost always gets what you’re asking it right.
– Boy, 12
– Girl, 11
2023 and AI: A new horizon
2023 and AI: A new horizon
With the takeoff of OpenAI, and launch of the ChatGPT app on iOS in May, and Android in July, we decided to explore how 2023’s hottest new arrival fared among children.
Because of the late release of the app, we focused exclusively on use of the OpenAI website, investigating how many children talked to the internet’s new friendly, neighborhood chatbot over the course of the year, and how the site ranked overall in visits compared to other popular websites. Globally, almost 20% of kids accessed OpenAI in 2023, landing it 18th place overall for the year’s most-visited websites. Our investigation also reveals children’s use of OpenAI in the US, UK, Spain, France, and Australia: just how quick on the uptake was each country?
Kids and app use in 2023
Our Annual Data Report looks into how children are using applications on their personal devices, including smartphones, tablets, and computers, across 5 popular categories. Here are some of the highlights from 2023.Our Annual Data Report looks into how children are using applications on their personal devices, including smartphones, tablets, and computers, across 5 popular categories. Here are some of the highlights from 2023.
The daily average play time on the virtual universe of Roblox, a long-term favorite played by 1 in 2 children around the world.
The total amount of screen time kids spent on personal devices outside school hours, exactly matching last year’s number.
The extra time children spent streaming online video services over the course of 2023: favorites included YouTube, Netflix, and Disney+.
The average daily time kids in both the US and Australia spent on Snapchat, topped only by their peers in the UK, who racked up an average of 1h 35 mins “sharing the moment”.
The extra time French children spent on TikTok compared to YouTube, scrolling short videos for 110 mins/day versus just 50 spent on longer forms of content.
The time kids around the world spent on TikTok over the year, rising to 127 mins/day in the UK, where children hit new heights of TikTok scrolling not seen before in our research.
The number of children in Spain using WhatsApp: up 4 percentage points from 2022, making them the biggest users of the messaging app from all countries included in our report.
The daily time spent cramming in language practice on kids’ number one learning app, Duolingo.
The number of children in Spain using WhatsApp: up 4 percentage points from 2022, making them the biggest users of the messaging app from all countries included in our report.
The daily time spent cramming in language practice on kids’ number one learning app, Duolingo.
Research by app category
Online video
Despite increased monthly fees and crackdowns on password sharing, children still managed to clock up 27% more time watching videos in 2023 than in the previous year. Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu didn’t come out unscathed though; kids spent 4%, 23%, and 12% less time watching these services respectively. They still prefer YouTube, the top choice for video again with 63% of children tuning in. The platform’s sister service, YouTube Kids, proved to be the star with watch time increasing to a record-breaking 96 mins/day.
Social media
2023 was a tumultuous year for the social media giants; with TikTok’s CEO testifying in US Congress, lawsuits against Meta and ByteDance, new legislation in the UK and France, and a rebrand at Twitter, just to name a few. But far from souring on their socials, children are scrolling, liking, and sharing more than ever. TikTok continues to captivate with kids spending 5% more time scrolling short-form videos than in 2022, and a change of name came with a boost in popularity as Twitter/X saw a 27% increase in use among children.
Gaming
Accounting for 1 in every 5 apps downloaded on the Apple Store, people love gaming on the go – but both the popularity of games and the time kids spent playing took a beating in 2023. Children spent 8% less time on gaming apps than in the previous year, with the daily average falling from 38 minutes in 2022 to 35 in 2023. Kids’ favorite Roblox might’ve taken a hit in popularity but it’s still the app that they spent the most time on – across all categories – with an average of 130 minutes invested daily.
Education
Technology continues to change the way we educate with 72% of children now using some form of digital device for school – with the blended learning platform Google Classroom topping the usage chart for the second year running. At home, the learning boom that started during the pandemic seems to have halted with children spending one minute less per day on their favorite learning apps. Kids still love the multilingual owl though as Duolingo remains the most popular learning app – but it’s Quizlet where most children spent their time in 2023, cramming in 10 minutes of gamified study daily.
Communication
With the pandemic firmly behind us, children have almost turned their back on video call apps entirely; lockdown favorite Zoom has dropped out of all popularity charts, and Skype and Google Duo are close behind. As in 2022, children are spending 39 minutes a day chatting on communication apps with WhatsApp remaining the most popular. Kids spent more time on Snapchat though, snapping away for a new high of 74 mins/day.
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the report
The final word
As time passes, however, screen time is taking more of a back seat when considering how to keep our children safe online. What lies beneath the hours they spend hopping from one device to another? There’s undoubtedly a myriad of fun, learning, and entertainment to be had, but it’s a complex web when you begin to scratch further under the surface: exposure to strangers and cyberbullies, rabbit-holes of harmful and inappropriate content, and what could be a lasting effect on children’s mental health.
From the very beginning, Qustodio’s interest in creating these reports has been to inform on trends, helping parents, guardians, and educators understand where children are dedicating their time online, revealing their interests and habits in order to help us work towards creating a balance with technology.
Last year, we indicated that our youngest in society were at the verge of a tipping point, as we all grow to understand better the stressors of constant connection and what growing up in a digital playground really looks like. Now, the dominoes have begun to fall. There are grassroots movements springing up, demanding smartphones be held back until the age of 16. Governments are also playing a role, from state-mandated parental control on SIM cards, to social media companies being held accountable for the effect their applications are having on teens and tweens around the world.
Concerned about the long-term effects, families are becoming ever more involved in their children’s digital lives: talking more about mental health, accompanying them along their journey with technology, and using tools to keep them safe as they explore a world that seems familiar to us, but which both children and adults alike are constantly learning from. What was once an “us versus them” situation for children seems to slowly be developing, spinning on its heel into a pairing of “together”. Families, schools, and children are being brought closer in union, helping keep children safe in the digital age, and facing the novelties as one.
While the push has just begun, much more will continue to come our way: the internet’s next new dawn of artificial intelligence has already broken. Together, we will navigate its ups and downs, discovering the balance, and drawing on our own experience with digital history: what can we do better? How can we use these tools for good? How can we keep one another safe?
In the next few years, we will need to learn how to reach middle ground, understanding the power of technology and how to reap its benefits, while safeguarding from its risks. Through a community of parents, guardians, educators, and the many more looking out for our children, their future in the digital world is not bleak, but bright. It gives us the opportunity to collaborate, innovate, explore and discover, and above all, do great things – together.
