The digital world is tough, and kids need to be taught how to survive it

The Covid-19 pandemic and the digital revolution have led to an exponential rise in technology and internet use.

While growing up in a digital world has offered children opportunities, including education, social interaction and online support, child health experts say this has exposed many young people to hurtful experiences and cyber bullying resulting in a sea of mental health challenges.

In the latest Child Gauge penned by the University of Cape Town’s Children’s Institute, apart from digital technology’s influence on children’s ability to interact with others in “real life”, too much time spent on social media has resulted in mental health challenges such as depression, self harm and suicide.

Though there are still research gaps concerning the benefits and harms of digital technology, authors argue that one thing is clear — children need “digital resilience” to help them understand the risk of exposure to the internet.

In a chapter titled: “Child and adolescent mental health and the digital world: A double-edged sword”, social and behavioural scientist Rachana Desai and Patrick Burton, an executive director at the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention, argue that empowering children to be resilient to digital technology will “help them know when they are at risk, what to do when they encounter risks, how to seek help, and how to recover and learn from adverse experiences”.

“Understanding the impact of the digital environment on children’s mental health requires a balanced consideration of the risks, opportunities, and full range of children’s rights in a digital world.”

They argue that while SA’s initial legislation in this field focused on protecting children from exposure to online risks and harms, this was often at the expense of young people’s participation and privacy. Yet the UN’s guidance is clear on what the digital environment means for children’s rights and freedom. It emphasises their “right to privacy, non discrimination, education and protection”.

Despite schools’ position as agents of change where policies should aim to balance the protection of children with their rights to privacy in a way that is age appropriate, authors argue that schools’ guidelines are still out of touch. Instead, through online learning platforms, schools risked exposing children to harm through unregulated data collection by education technology companies.

Desai and Burton argue that the education department’s e-safety guidelines, even in their revised form, “fail to integrate more recent evidence on children’s use of technology and emerging best practice on how to address challenges”.

“This includes the failure to address data protection and management which may result in harmful outcomes to pupils. In their efforts to keep children safe, schools may inadvertently collect or use data in ways that may pose a risk to children’s mental health and wellbeing.

“For example, digital technology intended to aid communication with parents and children may lead to direct harm if children are identified and their behaviour discussed in a public forum — an unintentional ‘shaming’ exercise.”

They say early childhood development programmes should consider integrating digital literacy. This ranges from the inclusion of material targeting parents and caregivers on age-appropriate internet and device access and usage, to digital literacy programming for parents and caregivers.

“Training for educators is also needed so that they are able to identify children who exhibit symptoms of trauma or distress as a result of online harm and can refer them to psychosocial support services.”