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Enhance and do not harm the health and wellbeing of all children, including through the use of inclusive design.
Wellbeing in relation to the digital environment relies on policy and design choices that enhance a child’s life satisfaction. These can include, for example, promoting a balanced lifestyle, emotional regulation and supportive social connections. Good design and practice can also make mental and physical health and other forms of support easily accessible. Understanding the relation between digital literacy and children’s wellbeing was the main aim of the ySKILLS project.
This is one of 11 child rights principles applicable to the digital environment. Together they encompass the full range of child rights covered by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Summary of the key evidence from ySKILLS
Summary of the key evidence from ySKILLS
‘Wellbeing’ is defined in social research in multiple ways. ySKILLS found it valuable to distinguish the dimensions of cognitive, physical, psychological and social wellbeing. Gaining digital skills may both support and undermine cognitive and social wellbeing, depending on the dimensions of digital skills gained. More obviously, children who used the internet more often had less physical activity. However, children with greater digital skills were also more capable of searching for information related to health online.
Generally, children who used the internet more reported less physical activity. Excessive gaming was associated with lower linguistic performance accuracy, as shown by fMRI tests. Adolescents who reported using the phone in bed and browsing social media and websites more slept less overall. However, there was also a small association between watching videos and increased relaxation. Interestingly, although time spent online can negatively impact on children’s physical and psychological and mental wellbeing, gaining digital skills reduces this negative effect.
The dimensions of digital skills also make a difference. Children with higher information navigation and processing skills reported better school performance, but children with higher content creation and production skills reported lower school performance. However, those with higher content creation and production skills were subsequently more likely to search for information about health, injury or physical treatment. Finally, children with higher programming skills reported lower life satisfaction, and children with higher communication skills reported higher life satisfaction. Support from friends was higher among children with higher communication and interaction skills.
Vulnerable groups find digital skills particularly helpful. Young people with internet-related mental health difficulties try to develop ad hoc digital skills to protect their psychological wellbeing. Migrant children develop identity-related skills, which are necessary for their socio-emotional development. For many young refugees, digital skills are vital for self-care and for the caring of others.
“On Twitter sometimes there are feeds trending or threads trending on my feed where it’s like ways to cope. And I have got a bunch of those added to my bookmarks so that I can go to them quickly.” (teenager experiencing mental health difficulties, UK)
ySKILLS is an EC-funded research network aiming to identify the actors and factors that undermine or promote the wellbeing of children aged 12–17 in a digital age. More about ySKILLS
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