v3.5: Think of the children!

It feels like everyone’s fretting about kids and tech, but is the internet responsible for young people’s anxieties? And are bans an effective way of moderating behaviour? We examined the evidence. 🧐

We also spoke to an expert in early childhood education, Paula Walshe, who believes we can do better at teaching positive tech use from a young age. 👶🏻

Paula also explained how important and valuable a quality tech education can be for kids – and busts the myth that this is just about kids on screens.

Elaine thinks we can thank US psychologist Jonathan Haidt’s recent book, The Anxious Generation, for stoking current anxieties around kids online but a review of the science backing up the claims in this book found it seriously lacking.

Still, we seem to be in moral panic mode and regulators are shooting straight to bans on tech for kids everywhere we look. The US, the UK and France are keen on taking this route, as are a group of Fine Gael senators here in Ireland – though a request for the scientific evidence they’ve found to back up their claims remains outstanding. 🕵🏻‍♀️

What’s more, a lot of the political action around this purported issue looks more like posturing – the art of seeming to do something on a hot topic to garner favourable headlines – and has little grounding in effective, evidence-led responses.

And it’s worth mentioning that the Digital Services Act already lays out requirements and safeguards for tech platforms engaging with children, and this regulation has teeth. Meta and TikTok are already under investigation by the EU for potential breaches.

Also, age-gating technologies are still far from being viable and mandating them doesn’t magically move that huge obstacle on the road to their implementation. 🚧

Then there’s the great big elephant in the room that is somehow ignored in much of this discussion: that the broadly positive effects of being online are actually backed up by bodies of evidence. 🐘

As Paula and many others say: technology is just a tool, and it’s how we use it that counts.

Paula shares her work on TheDigitalEarlyChildhoodEducator.ie and also has her own podcast, the ECE Quality Ireland Podcast. She also has book on STEAM in early childhood education coming out later this year.

We also recommend checking out resources from WebWise and CyberSafeKids if you’re a parent with concerns. And you can join the waitlist for Sersha or pre-order a Karri walkie-talkie if you’re interested in supporting these kid-tech companies.

Want to hear more?

If you enjoyed this episode of For Tech’s Sake then there are others you may also want to check out, as good companions to some of the themes discussed here:

👶🏻 The online generation with Dr Colman Noctor

🔦 Dark patterns with Prof Owen Conlan

⚖️ Content moderation with Aoife Barry

⛔️ Tech-facilitated abuse with Louise O’Hagan

Next week, we’ll have a special bonus episode exclusive for HeadStuff+ Community members, so if you really want to hear from us every week, you’ll have to become a member here.