Young Children’s Rights in a Digital World

This volume focuses on very young children’s (aged 0-8) rights in a digital world. It gathers current research from around the globe that focuses on young children’s rights as agental citizens to the provision of and participation in digital devices and content—as well as their right to protection from harm. The UN Digital Rights Framework of 2014 addresses children’s needs, agency and vulnerability to harm in today’s digital world and implies roles and responsibilities for a variety of social actors including the state, families, schools, commercial entities, researchers and children themselves. This volume presents a broad range of research, including chapters on parental supervision and control, the changing forms of play, early childhood education, media and cultural studies, law, design, health, special-needs education, and engineering. Implicit within this book is the acknowledgement that children of various ages, abilities, socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds should have equal access to, and positive / non-harmful experiences with, new digital technologies and content—as well as adult support and expertise that enhances these experiences.

This passionate book celebrates the diversity of young children’s activities in the digital world.  It interrogates these through four intersecting lenses: their rights, play experiences, contextualised design, and best practice. Balancing children’s eager engagement with digital content alongside adult responsibilities for education, privacy and protection, the volume provides a fitting showcase for work of global relevance.

Professor Lelia Green
Professor of Communications
Edith Cowan University
Perth, Western Australia

This compelling text provides a critical resource to inform our understanding of the intersection of the digital world and children’s rights.

Ilene R. Berson, Ph.D.
Professor of Early Childhood Education
Affiliate Faculty, Learning Design & Technology
Area Coordinator, Early Childhood
Coordinator, Early Childhood Ph.D. Program
University of South Florida
College of Education

A truly international collection that investigates young children’s engagement with digital technologies. Identifying issues of public interest around digital practices, this highly readable book is a valuable resource for researchers, parents and policy makers.

Professor Susan Danby
Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child  

and,

Faculty of Education
School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education                                                                    QUT
Kelvin Grove, Queensland