Dr Anumodan Gupta
Recently a UNICEF released a report named ‘State of World’s Children Report: Children in the Digital World,2017′ and similarly Tim Cook (Apple’s CEO) said that he wouldn’t want his children to use social media.
Isthere any dire exigency to look into countenance of digitalisation in our children’s life? answer is” yes”. Let’s have a reconnaissance and demeanour it.
The digitalization envoy to shape children’s life experiences grows as the children grow. At the same time, lack of access to technology compounds deprivation among children and various other groups, leaving them vulnerable to intergenerational cycles of disadvantage and poverty.
Digitalization convivial
* Access to better education opportunities- It has allowed children to participate in e-learning and to access a wide range of educational and learning content.
* Education as a personalized experience.
* Social media activism & overall integration
* Improve employability- It improves employability through better educational opportunities as well as training and skill improvement programmes.
* Opportunity for children with disability- Mobile applications can help children and young people with disabilities be more independent.
Digital Divide
* Digital divide mirrors socio-economic divides, between rich and poor, men and women, cities and rural areas, and between those with education and those without.
* Economic Disparities- The usage of internet in developed countries is double than the use in developing countries and way more when compared to least developed countries.
* While the zero-rating sites have exempted certain sites from the customer’s data limit, they have raised concerns that it may not lead to an inclusive internet but rather the one which people use to upload postsand pictures, thereby not utilizing technology to its full potential.
Digitalization scourge had made children more accessible through unprotected social media profiles and allowed offenders to be anonymous thus, identified are-Cyberbullying, Moreover Online Vulnerability reflects offline vulnerabilities.
Giant strides
The internet reflects and amplifies the best and worst of human nature. It is a tool that will always be used for good and for ill. According to one study, children’s screen times are closely linked to their parents’ viewing habits. So, what can be done? Giving children more opportunities to spend quality time offline will prove more efficient than forbidding them all Internet access or imposing restrictions to dissuade them from joining social networks.
(The author is a Jammu based Child Specialist)
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