The Association of German Family Organisations (AGF) has published its discussion paper entitled ‘Children and Young People in the Digital World – Families between Participation, Empowerment and Protection’.
Against the backdrop of current discussions on the consequences of social media use for children and young people, and in light of the specific – and in some cases differing – recommendations from various expert bodies, the AGF sets out fundamental requirements for families, educational institutions, policymakers and digital service providers. The focus is on the question of how digital participation, empowerment and protection can be reconciled.
FAMILIES BETWEEN PARTICIPATION, EMPOWERMENT AND PROTECTION
Digital media and digital services are an integral part of family routines and everyday practices. They have a significant influence on how families organise themselves and shape their relationships. They can support the communicative functions of family life and open up important opportunities for families to participate. For children and young people, digital offerings open up a wide range of opportunities in terms of access to knowledge, education, creativity, social relationships and participation in society.
At the same time, digital environments are characterised by risks. Families report feeling overwhelmed, mechanisms that encourage addictive behaviour, problematic content, ways of functioning that are difficult to understand, data protection risks and commercial interests. Further risks arise from cyberbullying, cyber-grooming, and exposure to violent content, disinformation or extremist messages. Added to this are health-related strains caused by excessive use and risks to mental health.
Key messages
- Digital inclusion is now a prerequisite for education, information, communication and social participation among children, young people and families.
- Digital media open up a wide range of opportunities for children and young people. However, excessive or risky use can impair their physical, mental, social and cognitive development.
- Children and young people have a right to digital participation, involvement, empowerment, protection and age-appropriate digital environments. These rights must not be played off against one another. Digital services must therefore be designed in such a way that they promote development and provide effective protection against avoidable risks.
- The balance between protection, empowerment and participation must evolve in line with age and stage of development. For younger children, protection and limits are more important; as they get older, personal responsibility, involvement and digital participation become more significant.
- Families play a central role in the digital socialisation of children and young people. Parents bear responsibility for providing age-appropriate guidance and fostering a thoughtful, development-promoting digital family culture. However, they must not be left to face these challenges alone.
- Parents bear responsibility for providing age-appropriate guidance and fostering a thoughtful digital family culture. This also includes their own media use, the responsible use of digital media in everyday family life, and respect for their children’s digital personal rights.
- The primary responsibility for safe digital environments lies with policymakers and digital service providers. It is not children, young people and families who must adapt to problematic platforms; rather, digital services must be tailored to the rights and developmental needs of children and young people.
- Media literacy is a necessary prerequisite for digital participation. However, it cannot replace the safe and child-friendly design of digital services (“Safety by Design” and “Safety by Default”).
- Child-friendliness must encompass both digital and analogue environments in equal measure. Anyone wishing to reduce media use and screen time must, at the same time, provide children and young people with attractive public spaces as well as opportunities for play, physical activity, culture and leisure, and promote social acceptance of child-appropriate behaviour in public.
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The paper currently is only available in German: