"[This report] surveys the landscape of digital opportunity as it relates to – and affects – children. It examines the digital divides that prevent millions of children from accessing through the internet new opportunities to learn and, someday, to participate in the digital economy, helping to
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break intergenerational cycles of poverty. It also explores the undeniably dark side of the internet and digital technology, from cyberbullying to online child sexual abuse to Dark web transactions and currencies that can make it easier to conceal trafficking and other illegal activities that harm children. It reviews some of the debates about less obvious harms children may suffer from life in a digital age – from digital dependencies to the possible impact of digital technology on brain development and cognition. And it outlines a set of practical recommendations that can help guide more effective policymaking and more responsible business practices to benefit children in a digital age. Equally important, this report includes the perspectives of children and young people on the impact of digital technology in their lives – telling their own stories about the issues that most affect them." (Foreword, page vi)
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"In June 2017, 490 children aged 10–18, from 26 different countries and speaking 24 official languages, participated in workshops held by UNICEF Country Offices and National Committees to share their views on how and why they use digital technologies in their everyday lives, as well as their aspir
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ations for the future of our digitally mediated world. Undertaken with the aim of generating data with children for publication in the State of the World's Children (SOWC) 2017 report, this project was a joint effort of the RErights.org team in the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University, UNICEF New York and a network of 26 UNICEF Country Offices and National Committees. It built on a previous international study that channelled children’s insights into global efforts to reinterpret the Convention on the Rights of the Child for the digital age (Third et al. 2014). Summaries of the findings of this project have been included in the SOWC report. This Companion Report, which should be read alongside the main report, explores in further detail the rich contributions of children for understanding the opportunities and challenges digital technologies present in their everyday lives." (Executive summary)
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"Based on an evidence-focused literature review, the first part of this paper examines existing knowledge on how the time children spend using digital technology impacts their well-being across three dimensions; mental/psychological, social and physical. The evidence reviewed here is largely inconcl
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usive with respect to impact on children’s physical activity, but indicates that digital technology seems to be beneficial for children’s social relationships. In terms of impact on children’s mental well-being, the most robust studies suggest that the relationship is U-shaped, where no use and excessive use can have a small negative impact on mental well-being, while moderate use can have a small positive impact. In the second part of the paper, the hypothetical idea of addiction to technology is introduced and scrutinized. This is followed by an overview of the hypothetical idea that digital technology might re-wire or hijack children’s brains; an assumption that is challenged by recent neuroscience evidence. In conclusion, considerable methodological limitations exist across the spectrum of research on the impact of digital technology on child well-being, including the majority of the studies on time use reviewed here, and those studies concerned with clinical or brain impacts. This prompts reconsideration of how research in this area is conducted. Finally, recommendations for strengthening research practices are offered." (Abstract)
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"This rapid evidence review examines adolescents’ access to and use of digital media (especially mobile phones and the internet), together with the associated digital skills and practices, opportunities and risks, and forms of safety mediation, in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The revi
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ew is especially concerned with 10- to 14-year-old girls’ digital media uses, although little evidence specifically addressed this group. It is guided by two overarching research questions: 1. What do scholars and practitioners know about how young adolescents are using digital media (computers, mobile phones and other information and communication technologies, ICTs) and the key challenges these children face? What are the opportunities involved in their use of such media and what are most significant gaps in our knowledge? 2. What evidence is there of local, national and international development programmes’ effective use of digital media to target 10- to 14-year-olds (rather than older adolescents)? What are the most significant gaps in the existing knowledge about these interventions and their outcomes?" (Executive summary)
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"Age is the key factor that differentiates among children’s online experiences, with gender also significant. One in ten children to one in five young teens say they encountered something worrying or nasty online in the past year. Children’s top worries are pornography and violence; they say the
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y encounter these most often on video-sharing sites, followed by other websites, then social networking sites and games. Children are also concerned about the levels of advertising online, their spending too much time online, inappropriate contacts, rumours and nastiness. Top parent concerns include online violence. There has been little increase or decrease in online risk in recent years, although there are some indications of a rise in hate and self-harm content. It is not possible to determine whether the internet has increased the overall amount of risk children face as they grow up, or whether the internet instead provides a new location for risk experiences, but the nature of the internet itself surely alters and amplifies the consequences." (Executive summary, page 2-3)
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"This is a case story demonstrating how puppetry was integrated into educational programmes in Myanmar to address disabilities and the importance of an inclusive education." (Publisher description)
"This booklet contains three series of factsheets related to online child sexual exploitation providing easy, ready-to-use resources to anyone interested in getting a better grasp of this issue. The first series is comprised of factsheets describing different manifestations of online child sexual ex
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ploitation. The second series covers the five relevant regional and/or international legal frameworks containing provisions regarding one or more of the manifestations of online child sexual exploitation. Finally, the third series consists of Internet and Technology factsheets describing terms and tools which are relevant to understand the Internet and how different technologies are (potentially) used by child sex offenders or those trying to obstruct the perpetrators." (Foreword)
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"This report surfaces what the Technical Working Group identified as the chief barriers to an optimal global response to online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) within three sectors: law enforcement, industry and government. The barriers identified are explained in detail in the report, and specif
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ic recommendations made for each sector. Recommendations are also provided for joint action. Two overarching themes have also emerged. First, the need for greater standardisation of process, practice and policies; second, the need for greater collaboration, coordination and inter-operability across stakeholders and functions, nations and jurisdictions." (Executive summary)
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"The Mission: To grow a global coalition of representatives from religions, governments, international organisations, academia and the research community, civil society and elsewhere, working together toward a common objective: defending the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults in the digital wor
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ld. The Vision: To create a digital world where children and vulnerable adults are respected and free to exercise their digital rights and are safe from exploitation and abuse. The Strategy: To achieve 13 goals recognizing the urgent need for an inter-sectoral strategic collaboration which calls upon technology, political and religious leaders, health and social care professionals and others to share responsibility for achieving them. Goal 1: To raise awareness of digital risks especially with respect to primary prevention and safeguarding, and undertake new social research. Goal 2: To mobilise faith leaders to support the implementation of the Declaration. Goal 3: To revise applicable laws to be more effective in preventing abuse. Goal 4: To redefine the responsibilities and actions required by technology companies. Goal 5: To improve provision of child rescue and treatment services. Goal 6: To improve identification and interventions for children and young people at risk. Goal 7: To improve the capabilities and collaborative efforts of international law enforcement organisations. Goal 8: To train clinicians to better serve the needs of victims. Goal 9: To expand treatment resources for people harmed by abuse. Goal 10: To research the health impacts on young people of viewing pornographic images. Goal 11: To set safety standards, agree to a code of conduct, and mandate filtering and age verification to protect children from inappropriate online content. Goal 12: To improve education of children and young people. Goal 13: To ensure all citizens are alert to the risks of abuse and know how to report it." (Executive summary)
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"The study found that all selected economies are working to protect children from online sexual abuse and exploitation. Regardless of their level of Internet penetration, all criminalise the production and distribution of child pornography under domestic law. However, the quality of legislation—wh
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en present—vary. Relevant laws in economies with high Internet penetration tend to have a clear and consistent definition of “child” and “child pornography”, and include offenses facilitated by all Internet-enabled platforms. Economies with high Internet penetration have also enacted laws and developed interventions on other aspects of child online safety, such as children’s exposure to harmful content, cyberbullying and Internet addiction. But there does not seem to be any targeted legislative response to the online privacy of children and the protection of children from information security risks. Moreover, comprehensive measures to equip children with the knowledge, tools and skills necessary for them to manage these risks are still lacking, particularly in developing countries in the region. Recently, in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore, laws have been passed to protect children against cyberbullying. These laws are being criticised for criminalising children and being inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression. Some believe that it is more effective to tackle cyberbullying through awareness-raising and education programmes with parents, guardians, schools and young people themselves. It must be emphasised that drafting and implementing legislation are only one among the many steps that can be taken by governments. The study found that countries have used a mix of measures to address these concerns, including technical tools to filter content, end-user empowerment, and cooperation between multiple stakeholders, including children." (Executive summary, page 3)
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"Study findings indicate that community videos aid spousal communication in support of maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN) behaviors even if husbands do not attend the disseminations. The visual presentation of MIYCN messages improved the transmission of information, which then facil
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itated communication between the husband and wife. Community members and family members confirmed these findings; they indicated that community video is a promising approach for strengthening spousal communication on important health issues." (Conclusion, page 3)
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"Funding original children’s television has never been easy because this is rarely a commercially attractive proposition unless you target a global audience and tap into ancillary revenues from licenced merchandise. As a case of market failure, policy makers who wish to ensure the production of a
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diverse range of quality content for children have therefore pursued a range of interventions to ensure sustainable levels of local content in the face of strong competition from US-owned media services. The aim of this article is to evaluate different funding options for public service children’s content in a more challenging and competitive multiplatform media environment in countries with a strong tradition of public service content for children. Focussing on interventions that go beyond public service broadcasting (PSB) (quotas, alternative funds), it assesses the extent to which these interventions reflect a future-oriented approach, or one that is mired in the status quo and vested interests." (Abstract)
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"Our study focuses on Sesame Street and sets out to examine how Sesame Workshop, as a ‘nonprofit’ organization targeting children, has been able to continuously transform and make itself relevant in a predominantly commercial children’s television landscape dominated by transnational ownership
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structures. The analysis includes an investigation of Sesame Workshop’s mission statements, organizational structure, annual fiscal reports, promotional material and other written sources from the 1970s to the 2010s. We focus on the Workshop’s own arguments and reasons for why their ‘non-profit’ status was, and still is, better at taking care of children’s interests than the for-profit companies. These understandings are held up against the, at times, very commercial logic guiding the workshop’s business model, and analysed within the economic and political context of children’s television in the United States and the Workshop’s key international target markets. Our theoretical framework draws upon insights from work on political economy and children’s media and comparative media systems." (Abstract)
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"Audience measurement techniques currently fail to provide a clear picture of trends in children’s television viewing because of the diversification in devices on which television content can be viewed. It is argued that understanding how children engage with television content is undermined by co
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mmonplace but problematic comparisons of time spent on television viewing and on Internet use, in which it is widely believed that children are deserting ‘television’ for ‘the Internet’. Although it is already well known that television content can be viewed on Internetenabled devices such as tablets, smartphones and laptop computers while Internet content and services can be accessed via Internet-enabled television sets, such viewing cannot be measured satisfactorily at present. While no doubt measurement techniques will continue to improve in accuracy, this article suggests that such measurement difficulties matter at a time when children’s public service broadcasting provision is falling and further threatened." (Abstract)
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