Let’s challenge ourselves to achieve brilliant things for children in the digital environment, writes Iain Sawbridge
If Education Secretary Damian Hind’s comments that “there is such a thing as good screen time” brought anything to mind, it was that social media, and digital more broadly, could really benefit from better PR and more vocal support.
Despite 6-12-year-old kids spending more time with digital media than with any other format, the platforms aren’t made for them – YouTube, Social Media and most of the games they play (including the smash hit Fortnite) are made for over 13s. So it’s not surprising that kids bump into inappropriate experiences on screen, just as they do in the real-world.
We can surely all agree inappropriate, harmful content in all its forms – whether bullying, racism, sexism, body image issues and more – must be better policed. Yet there’s also a huge amount of great kid-friendly content that’s informative, educational and fun.
So, there’s a real responsibility on all of us – whether platform, brand, publisher, politician or parent – to consider how kids are behaving online, the experiences they have and how we want them to feel.
It’s too easy to just blame the medium. We work very closely with YoungMinds, the leading UK Young People’s Mental Health charity. Their concern is that the panic whipped up around social and digital for young people is causing more important issues to be ignored. If we’re scared of the medium, we likely stop focusing on the message.[advert position=”left”]
Digital has phenomenal capacity for good. From our own research we know that over half of parents feel it’s made a positive impact on their children’s friendships.
Don’t forget, the kids themselves are digital natives. They are careful online, well-trained at school and at home – not surprising given their parents are often millennials, after all!
Young audiences are reaching a level of sophistication earlier – they are super engaged and increasingly more tech literate than many parents and politicians. But as kids of course, they need support, guidance and empathy.
We’ve seen ten-year olds complain to us about “clickbait”. They’re smart. They understand the advertising industry and even the business models of their favourite YouTuber. They don’t want content pushed on them, their curiosity means they want to seek out the right sort of content. To be spoken with. Not spoken at.
So let’s challenge ourselves to achieve brilliant things for children in the digital environment as, love it or fear it, it is incredible.
These new Government sanctioned educational apps are a welcome step in the right direction, but building a safer, welcoming world online will take more than just a handful of apps. It’ll take a shift in how we all approach content for kids.
Truth be told, digital’s power to change the world for the better currently lies beyond the limits of our imaginations, but almost definitely not outside the imaginations of our children.
Iain Sawbridge is Director of Beano for Brands
