industry & reform certainly our parents and grandparents grew up .
I think it ’ s about a blended environment and situation . If children are in an environment where they are isolated or disconnected , a digital online connection can actually enable them to socialise , to make friends , to maintain positive relationships with people and friends and family .
COVID ’ s been an obvious example of this , where people have potentially become isolated , but the online environment has enabled them to stay connected . We know that social connection is actually one of the key indicators of social wellbeing .
What are some of the findings from your research ? It ’ s been a fantastic piece of work that was sponsored by the LEGO Foundation and UNICEF , and with Western Sydney University , where they conducted workshops in 12 different countries , involving 300 children .
They were looking for the children ’ s perspective on what wellbeing meant to them , and what it meant to them in terms of digital play and the types of experiences they were seeing as positive .
That also brought up some concerns that children themselves had about digital play , and also some advice , I guess , on what they would like to see in new digital play experiences developed by industry . Out of that consultation period and listening to the voices of children , we ’ ve now been provided with a framework that captures and describes elements of digital play and wellbeing .
How do children view their own wellbeing within the technology space , and what are some of their concerns ? There is a range of both positive and negative things that children were saying . Some children were reporting that they felt digital play was less flexible and they couldn ’ t adapt it as much as if they were playing a game outside , or an imaginary play experience outside of the digital world .
Some children reported feeling that it was less social , and others said that , yes , they were less active in a digital play experience .
Again , there was this voice coming through that when the digital environment and games they ’ re playing have appropriate content – they ’ re designed for young children , and they allow for connections and collaborations in that space – they ’ re making friends , and they felt they were able to be more creative and that they were experiencing social wellbeing and connection with family and peers .
You mentioned that kids need digital literacy . So who should teach the kids ? Parents , teachers , both ? I think it ’ s a combination of both . We talk about parents as first teacher and first educator ; children are watching their parents ’ behaviour and they see what they do . And then sometimes they say they learn from what they see more than from what they hear .
Parents are the first educator , and children role model appropriate behaviours and practises with digital technologies . And parents do have a responsibility to ensure that they keep it in a safe environment , accessed within the home and that they have age appropriate devices there .
When our children go into formal learning environments like a school , the Australian curriculum actually has a continuum of ICT development that overlays children ’ s experiences . In schools we have a technologies curriculum and we have a digital technologies curriculum . But we also have , as a general capability , that children are using and accessing digital technologies for learning , not just learning about them , but actually using them as a tool for constructive and creative learning .
Your research also aims to help policy makers and businesses prioritise wellbeing when creating digital games and devices . What are some of the recommendations ? Children were recognising that it was the voice of the children that was being listened to . They wanted to feel safe and secure in an online environment . And they ’ re actually asking that these environments be developed in a way where the content that is provided to them is also safe : so the images and sounds were appropriate , and they didn ’ t want violent content .
They also wanted to know that other people ’ s behaviours in a safe online space for children could be monitored , so that they were connecting and collaborating in those digital play spaces with people that were of a similar age and that they had reduced contact with strangers .
Children wanted to see connection between their digital play and online experiences back into the physical world .
The children wanted to have their parents involved and said that their parents or an adult should actually be verifying the age of children in that play space , to help ensure that they ’ ve got a safe environment .
They were also asking that the products and games did encourage collaboration . They were really valuing the social connection element of this . They didn ’ t want single play or isolated play . They were looking for ways in which they could connect and collaborate with other people .
Children wanted to see connection between their digital play and online experiences back into the physical world , and that there was some connection and integration of photos of the world out in their backyards , and how that could then come in and be a part of their digital world as well .
Some research shows that too much screen time impacts children ’ s development , while your project focuses on wellbeing . How can we find the balance ? This has been an interesting debate that has persisted for some years . The research that those hours and the monitoring of time around children ’ s onscreen use actually came from research done on television , so it ’ s quite dated .
What we ’ re finding now with the more contemporary research is that it ’ s not just how long children are spending on a screen : it ’ s what they ’ re doing while they ’ re on the screen .
Some screen engagement for children is very active . We see some of these virtual gameplays , where they ’ re physically active as they ’ re watching and engaging with the screen . Also , is the screen time provoking interactions ? Are they thinking ? Are they communicating with other people ?
So it ’ s not just how long a child ’ s on the screen . It ’ s actually way more important to look at what it is that they ’ re doing , and what are they thinking about while they ’ re engaged with a digital device ? ■
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