UNICEF publishes an annual report on the state of the world's children. In 2017, this report offers a focus on the situation of children in a digital world.
Digital is presented as a source of opportunity, as opening up and providing access to new skills, especially for children left behind - whether for reasons of poverty, race, ethnicity, gender, disability, displacement or geographic isolation.
However, the report emphasizes the need to expand access and prevent risks.
Excessive time spent on screens creates risks of dependency and behavioral disorders (anxiety, depression,...).
Conversely, not having access to the Internet prevents access to the opportunities opened up by digital technology and reinforces inequalities:"The digital divide reflects the prevailing economic gaps: it reinforces the advantages of children from well-off families and does not offer opportunities to the poorest and most disadvantaged children. This access cuts across several dimensions:
- geography: 60% of children in Africa do not have access to the Internet compared to 4% in Europe
- gender: more men use the internet worldwide
- equipment: online experience on computer better than on smartphone
- language: the language spoken determines the possibility of access to relevant content
Finally, the report makes recommendations for action by governments and the private sector, including digital companies:
- developing industry-wide ethical data and privacy standards and other practices that support and protect children online
- measures that encourage innovation and competition to reduce the cost of connection and promote Internet access for as many people as possible
- measures against the use of the internet for the production and distribution of child pornography
- improve media coverage (quality of information) of the risks of connectivity on child development
- fostering collaborations for the production of appropriate content that takes into account diversity (language, gender, geography, equipment)
- digital possibilities: the promise of connectivity
- digital divides: missed opportunities
- the dangers of digital technology: the harmful effects of the virtual world
- childhood in the digital age: life online
- digital priorities: harness the positive, limit the negative
