Johannesburg - April is an important month for us in South Africa, our nation commemorates Freedom Day. When we at The Love Trust consider freedom, and what that means to us in the 21st century, what stands out is the freedom we, as digital citizens, all have as digital citizens.
Access to information is widespread, but we need to consider what this means for the younger generation who don’t know or recognise a time period, before the Digital Age.
What is the Digital Age?
The Digital Age is also known as the Information Age or the New Media Age, and is the time period from the 1970s onwards, with the introduction of the first personal computer.
Whatever name it goes by, this is the period in history when we started to move away from traditional industry to an economy based on information and communication technologies.
For most of us, it’s hard to remember a time before smartphones, tablets and the myriad applications that make our lives work; particularly in the past decade, where remote working became the norm.
Zoom, Google Meet, Tik Tok and Instagram are a part of daily life, and in turn, those of our children’s lives. For many children, daily moments are being captured and shared online, and they are seeing their parents or carers tied to their digital devices. Some educational institutions are also introducing digital aids from a young age.
Imagine being a child who has never known anything outside this time, where there is a record of every milestone, and a published digital catalogue of your life online – consider the fact that many of today’s youths either have a digital identity that they didn’t even consent to, and, on the flip side of that, some children don’t have enough access to information yet.
The Love Trust has a desire to explore this area in depth, to gain a thorough understanding around how we can make the digital age safer for our children. One of our teachers, Sheila Madzikana, says: “By integrating technologies into the classroom set-up and teaching methods, learners will also be better equipped for life outside of the classroom as technology forms part of their daily lives.”
The internet is a powerful tool, and with great power comes great responsibility. It is our job, as educators and parents, to protect our children’s freedom in this regard. Freedom to quality information can be life-changing, and on the reverse side, responsible use of the internet should be considered as important a life skill as being taught water-safety. It’s that critical.
According to research by the 5Rights Foundation, there are four principles of children’s rights in the online space that will keep it being a safe place for them to learn and explore. It’s important to know that these rights were commented on by the youth themselves in the revised UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 2021.
We need to set responsible boundaries as caregivers or educators, making it clear what appropriate online behaviour looks like, and setting parameters on applications, to keep them safe.
Use research as your guideline for age appropriateness and time-limits for screen-time. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the biggest online risks can be put into four main categories, known as the “4 Cs”:
● Content Risks: A content risk refers to a situation where a child could potentially be the recipient of hateful or even illegal content.
● Conduct Risks: A conduct risk occurs where children partake in peer-to-peer exchanges, either sharing harmful or shaming content, that is having a participatory part in potential bullying.
● Contract Risks: A contract risk can take place if a child is exposed to inappropriate targeted messaging, digital scams or fraudulent activity.
● Contact Risks: This type of risk is where a child is targeted in online grooming, harassment or personal data misuse.
Many have fallen victim to hacking, banking scams, false news, fraudulent duplicate social accounts and even, at times, online hate.
It is our duty to teach our children how to not partake in spreading online viruses, mass hysteria or even cyber bullying. And further to that, we need to help them understand what to do should they come across something that could potentially cause harm.
At the Love Trust, we know that there is a myriad good things to be said about technology and its place in our lives, particularly as educators, but, we also know that there are many risks out there that can be presented under a seemingly innocuous facade, so let’s teach our children how to use technology wisely.
Bill Gates once said: “The internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” Powerful words by the man who started Microsoft, changing life as we know it.
Knowing our children need our support and guidance to safely navigate the internet is of paramount importance. We need to teach them critical thinking skills and lead by example, and show them what a healthy relationship with the internet looks like.
Having directly impacted 460 children in the past 10 years, The Love Trust understands that bridging the digital divide is of paramount importance.
Making technological tools more widely available to children in vulnerable communities is a large part of closing that gap, and further to that, providing them with the knowledge on exploring their freedom wisely in the digital world.
Well, that’s freedom in the truest sense – education is the key to opening the door to a better life.