This session was prepared to be presented in Wellington (but the Coronavirus put a stop to the event)

1. Dr Bex Lewis @drbexl
Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing
01 April 2020
Adventists North, Wellington, New Zealand
Raising Children in a Digital Age
https://www.slideshare.net/drbexl

2. Today’s Plan
• Who are we?
• The digital environment
• Social networks & mobile phones
• Conversation is key
• Some particular concerns
• A reminder about values
• Some useful resources
• Q&A

3. My Twitter Bio
Life Explorer, author, speaker, SL
#digitalmarketing MMU,
Christian, digital culture,
@digitalfprint, #KeepCalm,
#BusyLivingWithMets #WIASN
#Pockets #Cheese

4. Published by Lion
Hudson
February 2014
*Working on new edition
*Italian (Nov 2015)
*Chinese (2016)
http://j.mp/RCIDAge Dr Bex Lewis
@drbexl

5. Digital Literacy
"digital literacy defines those
capabilities which fit an individual
for living, learning and working in a
digital society”
https://www.jisc.ac.uk/guides/developing-digital-literacies

6. Responsibility?
“Social media companies have a responsibility to protect people
who use their technology, and we want to hear what more can be
done to keep children and young people safe from online threats.
This Government is determined to make Britain the safest country
in the world for young people to be online, and to make sure that
everyone – including the public sector, technology firms, parents
and children themselves – is playing their part.”
Karen Bradey MP, Government Internet Safety Strategy, April 2017
http://drbexl.co.uk/2017/04/20/media-discussing-responsibility-social-media-companies-re-safer-internet-ucbmedia/

7. https://www.justice.g
ovt.nz/justice-sector-
policy/key-
initiatives/harmful-
digital-
communications/

8. What do you know about each
other?

9. Interaction
On Twitter you only have 160 characters in your ‘bio’ to
make yourself ‘known’ to other people, other social
media is similar…
Find someone with whom you have something in
common, that you didn’t know already *think
achievements, hobbies, travel, interests, family

10. The Digital Environment

11. https://www.faceb
ook.com/BBCArc
hive/videos/4725
72483115787/

13. https://www.thea
tlantic.com/maga
zine/archive/201
7/09/has-the-
smartphone-
destroyed-a-
generation/5341
98/

18. Understand!
“If we want resilient kids we need to
understand what young people’s
experiences are online, listen to their
concerns, and intervene with their best
interests in mind.”
Jane Tallim, Co-Executive Director, MediaSmarts, Canada,
January 2015
http://mediasmarts.ca/research-policy/young-canadians-wired-world-phase-iii-trends-recommendations

19. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/12103150/Rembrandt-The-Night-Watch-The-real-
story-behind-the-kids-on-phones-photo.html

20. HAVE smartphones destroyed a generation?
“Giving lip service to the difference between correlations and
causality, as Twenge does at several points, is not enough. ‘Of
course, these analyses don’t unequivocally prove that screen
time causes unhappiness’, she writes (her emphasis). ‘[I]t’s possible
that unhappy teens spend more time online’. In fact, the analyses
she refers to don’t prove causality at all, let alone unequivocally. At
another point Twenge writes that ‘Depression and suicide have
many causes; too much technology is clearly not the only one’. In
fact, we don’t know (at least from the evidence she presents) that it
is a cause at all.”
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2017/08/11/some-thoughts-on-the-
atlantic/http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2017/08/11/some-thoughts-on-the-atlantic/

21. The Myth of the ‘Digital Native’
Read more: http://drbexl.co.uk/2014/02/11/digitalparenting-the-myth-of-the-digital-native-sid2014
Image: https://medium.com/@blucy94/lets-talk-about-digital-natives-8217e406ed89

22. Social Networks & Mobile
Phones

23. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-new-zealand

24. https://littletonpublicschools.net/cybersafety

26. https://gs.statcounter.com/social-media-stats/all/new-zealand

29. Mobile/Cell Phone Boundaries?
An ideal time to discuss mobile phone
boundaries with your child is the day you
buy their first one. These should include:
• sticking to a budget
• the use they can put it to/any access
you may have
• understanding what to do about
security if the phone gets
stolen/limiting the chances of it being
stolen
• knowing what will happen if they lose
or break it
http://gph.is/1sD0FtZ

30. http://www.huffingtonp
ost.com/janell-burley-
hofmann/iphone-
contract-from-your-
mom_b_2372493.html

31. https://www.verywell
.com/social-media-
contract-for-tweens-
and-parents-
3288520

32. Conversation, Conversation,
Conversation
https://unsplash.com/photos/8H9ph_Jp3hA

33. H/T @God_Loves_Women
http://drbexl.co.uk/tag/addiction/

34. It’s not just ‘the kids’…
“In some ways, it seems difficult to explain the power of social media on my everyday life,
including my academic life, because I’m so embedded within it, that many things have just
become ‘normal’. If I need some ideas, some quotes, some suggestions of readings, I will
just put a post up, and see what catches people’s attention, but it goes much deeper than
that! I always want to emphasise the importance of online/offline interactions, and how
the lines between them have blurred more and more as the years have gone on. Potential
collaborations start online, and lead to offline meet-ups, or a conversation starts offline,
and the ideas continue flowing online. Sometimes they stay fully online, and that’s fine
too!”
‘Bex Lewis’, in Ord, T. Theologians and Philosophers on Social Media, 2017

35. Self-Regulation…
Charlotte Robertson, the co-founder of Digital Awareness UK, said:
“We speak to thousands of students on a daily basis about safe
internet use and while it’s a matter of concern to see the emotional
impact social media is having on young people’s health and
wellbeing, it’s encouraging to see that they are also employing
smart strategies such as digital detoxing to take control of their
social media use.
http://bit.ly/GuardianSocMedChildren (05/10/17)

36. “Some have tested extreme detoxes. Susan Maushart, writing for
the Daily Mail, undertook a six-month “technology blackout” for
her entire family, which she viewed as a consciousness raising
exercise rather than a long-term strategy.7 Paul Millar, a technology
journalist, disconnected from the internet for a year but found that,
after the initial feeling of “freedom”, he picked up other bad habits.
He ignored his post and his friends, allowed the dust to gather on
his exercise equipment, failed to turn boredom into creativity, and
sat and did nothing. On analysing this for an article for The Verge
magazine, he was able to make more informed technology choices
once he reconnected.” Raising Children in a Digital Age, p181

37. Some Particular Concerns

38. Addiction?
‘It is interesting to note that we’ll frequently talk about internet
addiction, but this accusation is not made at those whose noses are
buried in a ‘good book’, or a newspaper. There’s something about
the digital that attracts particular criticism, and we need to
consider whether it is valid condemnation, or whether any of our
habits or lifestyles, when viewed as a whole, require more
consideration.’
Lewis, 2018
See also: https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong?

39. Thecoresignsofaddiction
• The activitybecomesthemost importantthing ina person’slife.
• Moods changeinaccordancewiththe activity.
• Continually higherdosesofan activityarerequiredtoachievetheoriginalsensations.
• Withdrawalsymptomssuchasanxiety and depressionareexperiencedwhenthe activityis stopped.
• Increasingconflictoccurswiththoseintheclosestsocialcircle.
• Thereisatendencytoreturntothe activityafterperiodsofcontrol(relapse).
• The “sunkcost”fallacyisexperienced:notwanting toabandonsomethingaftersomuchtime hasbeensunk intoit.
RaisingChildreninaDigitalAge,p168
Listen: http://bit.ly/children-womans-hour;
http://bit.ly/premier-deloitte-addiction

40. Screentime
• Interactive: The child should be required to do something, otherwise they may just as
well be watching TV; interaction means they will be engaged in what they are doing and
learning from it.
• Complementary: A link to current school subjects, hobby or a day’s activity. Repetition
and variation will support learning.
• Variety: Learning happens every day in a variety of ways, both direct and indirect.
Children benefit from variety and making choices. Interactive screens are part of the
variety.
• Moderation: Don’t let it be the only way they learn. Too much of any single thing can
be detrimental. Keep mixing it up.
• Age-appropriate: Just as we consider the appropriateness of the films our children
watch, the same consideration needs to be given to the content they consume on a
tablet.
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2017/09/06/tablet-totalitarianism/

41. The Bullied
The Bully
The Bystander

42. Increased time spent online will most likely increase
exposure to negative experiences – but also the
positive opportunities. Nancy Willard, a cyberbullying
expert, calls for us to work on the “understanding that
the vast majority of young people want to make good
choices, do not want to be harmed, and do not want
to see their friends or others harmed”. We can’t
control their whole environment, online or offline, so
parents need to give their children the capability to
deal with problems as they come across them.
Raising Children in a Digital Age, p.63

43. BBC: Be Smart
“We’re doing this because all the research tells us that
children and young people respond best to their
peers. Whether they’re under pressure to take part in
a dangerous prank, or to victimise someone, or
whether they’re an online bully themselves, stories
told by other young people are most likely to resonate
and to help them cope, or change their behaviour.”
Andrew Tomlinson, Executive Producer, Media Literacy, BBC Learning
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/f1f50247-4902-4998-bf58-3e2d3c007587

44. Friendship

45. https://figure.nz/chart/mmv1VDtlvS
YBRXxR-iTzuqrhLMeY0c31K
https://figure.nz/chart/bdQy4jn1Bq
Mjo4l3-AZ0eMHRsXcLCb3rz

46. Image: Stockfresh

47. To monitor or
not to monitor?
Image Credit: Stockfresh

48. Who sees this?
1. Parents
2. ‘Kids’
3. Newspaper
4. Enemy
Image Credit: Stockfresh

49. A reminder about values

50. Human Beings
at machines,
not “are
machines”
Image Source: Stockfresh

51. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/well/mind/how-to-be-mindful-with-facebook.html?

52. Progressive Responsibilty
• Do it for them
• Do it with them
• Watch while they do it
• Let them do it for themselves.
Will Taylor

53. Do not … leave them to their own devices
Be involved
• Seek to understand what/how they are using
• Not just the latest ‘moral panic’
• Negotiate boundaries: write family agreements
• Talk to them, listen to them
• Be alongside them - especially in the early years
• Consider your own habits

54. Social Media or Society?
“If we don’t like what social media is
presenting us [with], we should look at
society instead, not just the tool they
communicate with.”
Caroline Criado-Perez, 2013
Source: http://www.interhacktives.com/2013/12/04/5th-hackney-debate-social-media-blessing-curse/

55. Some Resource Suggestions

56. https://www.netsafe.org.nz/

57. https://nationalonlinesafety.com/guides

58. https://unbound.com/books/taming-gaming/ http://bit.ly/children-gaming

59. https://www.dia.go
vt.nz/Censorship-
Online-Safety

60. https://www.police.govt.nz/advice-services/cybercrime-and-internet/internet-safety

62. Connect further:
http://drbexl.co.uk/
@drbexl
https://mmu.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/raising-children-in-a-digital-age-2