Children flourishing in the digital age: redesigning and regulating the online environment

Children rely on digital technologies to stay in touch with friends and family but this has recently become even more prominent in a context of social isolation, homeschooling and prolonged lockdowns. Faced with few alternatives, parents are concerned about how spending time on social media platforms might affect their children. In this blog, Gianfranco Polizzi discusses the findings from a new survey with parents of children aged 13-17 showing that the majority of parents (83%) expect social media companies to be responsible for ensuring children’s safe internet use. Parents worry that tech companies prioritise profit ahead of promoting positive outcomes for children (73%), revealing the need for a unified effort by governments, industry, educators and parents to ensure children’s positive engagement with digital technologies.