Children’s developing digital literacy: dilemmas in linking evidence and policy Sonia Livingstone s.livingstone@lse.ac.uk @Livingstone_S www.sonialivingstone.net

Media literacy, digital literacy, development

Digital media exacerbate the challenges

Moral and media panics

Case 1: Screen time rules

“Bright line” rules

Case 2: The age of digital consent

“Digital” age of consent in Europe 13/15? 13 16 13 13 13 16 16 14 13

UK children who use social media by age (Ofcom 2016)

Do you know why the 3 results at the top of the page have been listed first?

Age matters a lot

Understanding sponsored results increases with year on year

Understanding is less in low SES homes – a deprived 15 year old knows about what a well-off 11 year old knows Predicted probability of giving a correct answer to Q26A by SES as age varies from 8 to 15 years, with activities and parental mediation held at the average

Active parenting can almost double a child’s chance of understanding Predicted probability of giving a correct answer to Q26A by SES for a 12 year old who undertakes average activities as parental mediation varies

The more kids do online, the more they understand the online environment Predicted probability of giving a correct answer to Q26A by SES for a 12 year old with average parental mediation as their online activities increase

Case 3: Children’s rights in the digital environment

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Protection from any kind of discrimination (Article 2), all forms of abuse and neglect (Art. 19), including sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (Art. 34), and other forms of exploitation prejudicial to the child’s welfare (Art. 36), from ‘information and material injurious to the child’s well-being’ (Art. 17e), ‘arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, or correspondence [and] unlawful attacks on his or her honour and reputation’ (Art. 16) Provision to support children’s rights to life and development (Art.6), to preserve his or her identity (Art. 8), to an education to support the development of their full potential (Art. 28) and prepare them ‘for responsible life in a free society’ (Art. 29), to recreation and leisure appropriate to their age (Art. 31), to diverse material of social and cultural benefit to the child (including minorities) to promote children’s well-being (Art. 17) and all appropriate measures for recovery from neglect, exploitation or abuse (Art.39) Participation: ‘In all actions concerning children… the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration’ (Art. 3), including the right of children to be consulted in all matters affecting them (Art. 12), to freedom of expression (Art. 13) , freedom of thought (Art.14), of association and assembly (Art. 15), to information (Art.17) and to participate fully in cultural life (Art.31)

Towards evidence-based policy

Challenges of evidence-based policy There is nothing a Government hates more than to be well-informed; for it makes the process of arriving at decisions much more complicated and difficult. (John Maynard Keynes, The Times, 11 March 1937) As anyone working in the field of research use knows, a central irony is the only limited extent to which evidence advocates can themselves draw on a robust evidence base to support their convictions that greater evidence use will ultimately be beneficial to public services (Nutley, Walter, & Davies, 2007)

Thank you s.livingstone@lse.ac.uk @Livingstone_S www.sonialivingstone.net