From the mid-1990s onwards concerns regarding the exposure of children to harmful content in the increasingly digital media environment intensified. Soon thereafter policy makers across Europe realised that alternative regulatory instruments, such as self- and co-regulation, might be more appropriate than traditional legislation to address this matter of public interest. Taking the complex and delicate nature of protecting minors into account, this book provides an in-depth legal analysis of the alternative regulatory instruments that can be used to regulate content in the digital era, with particular attention to the protection of fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression, privacy and procedural guarantees, internal market regulation, competition rules, and implementation requirements.

Digital technology has changed the parenting territory dramatically in recent years. Suddenly we've been tasked with preparing kids to be safe, happy and successful, not just in the real world, but in the online world as well. Martine Oglethorpe is part of a new breed of parenting educator who nimbly stays abreast of technology changes while keeping one foot firmly grounded in the timeless ways that make families strong.Martine skilfully combines her professional expertise with the lived experience gained by guiding her own children down the pathway to being skilled, savvy digital citizens. In these pages lies the blueprint for parenting kids in the digital age. It shares how to be engaged in the digital lives of our children without being overbearing or burdensome; to know when to tread lightly as a parent and when care and caution need to be taken.

From baby pictures in the cloud to a high school's digital surveillance system: how adults unwittingly compromise children's privacy online. Our children's first digital footprints are made before they can walk—even before they are born—as parents use fertility apps to aid conception, post ultrasound images, and share their baby's hospital mug shot. Then, in rapid succession come terabytes of baby pictures stored in the cloud, digital baby monitors with built-in artificial intelligence, and real-time updates from daycare. When school starts, there are cafeteria cards that catalog food purchases, bus passes that track when kids are on and off the bus, electronic health records in the nurse's office, and a school surveillance system that has eyes everywhere. Unwittingly, parents, teachers, and other trusted adults are compiling digital dossiers for children that could be available to everyone—friends, employers, law enforcement—forever. In this incisive book, Leah Plunkett examines the implications of “sharenthood”—adults' excessive digital sharing of children's data. She outlines the mistakes adults make with kids' private information, the risks that result, and the legal system that enables “sharenting.” Plunkett describes various modes of sharenting—including “commercial sharenting,” efforts by parents to use their families' private experiences to make money—and unpacks the faulty assumptions made by our legal system about children, parents, and privacy. She proposes a “thought compass” to guide adults in their decision making about children's digital data: play, forget, connect, and respect. Enshrining every false step and bad choice, Plunkett argues, can rob children of their chance to explore and learn lessons. The Internet needs to forget. We need to remember.

This volume focuses on very young children’s (aged 0-8) rights in a digital world. It gathers current research from around the globe that focuses on young children’s rights as agental citizens to the provision of and participation in digital devices and content—as well as their right to protection from harm. The UN Digital Rights Framework of 2014 addresses children’s needs, agency and vulnerability to harm in today’s digital world and implies roles and responsibilities for a variety of social actors including the state, families, schools, commercial entities, researchers and children themselves. This volume presents a broad range of research, including chapters on parental supervision and control, the changing forms of play, early childhood education, media and cultural studies, law, design, health, special-needs education, and engineering. Implicit within this book is the acknowledgement that children of various ages, abilities, socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds should have equal access to, and positive / non-harmful experiences with, new digital technologies and content—as well as adult support and expertise that enhances these experiences. This passionate book celebrates the diversity of young children’s activities in the digital world. It interrogates these through four intersecting lenses: their rights, play experiences, contextualised design, and best practice. Balancing children’s eager engagement with digital content alongside adult responsibilities for education, privacy and protection, the volume provides a fitting showcase for work of global relevance. Professor Lelia Green Professor of Communications Edith Cowan University Perth, Western Australia This compelling text provides a critical resource to inform our understanding of the intersection of the digital world and children’s rights. Ilene R. Berson, Ph.D. Professor of Early Childhood Education Affiliate Faculty, Learning Design & Technology Area Coordinator, Early Childhood Coordinator, Early Childhood Ph.D. Program University of South Florida College of Education A truly international collection that investigates young children’s engagement with digital technologies. Identifying issues of public interest around digital practices, this highly readable book is a valuable resource for researchers, parents and policy makers. Professor Susan Danby Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child and, Faculty of Education School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education QUT Kelvin Grove, Queensland

Wall Street Journal Best Nonfiction Pick; Publisher's Weekly Best Book of the Year Clinical psychologist Catherine Steiner-Adair takes an in-depth look at how the Internet and the digital revolution are profoundly changing childhood and family dynamics, and offers solutions parents can use to successfully shepherd their children through the technological wilderness. As the focus of the family has turned to the glow of the screen—children constantly texting their friends or going online to do homework; parents working online around the clock—everyday life is undergoing a massive transformation. Easy access to the Internet and social media has erased the boundaries that protect children from damaging exposure to excessive marketing and the unsavory aspects of adult culture. Parents often feel they are losing a meaningful connection with their children. Children are feeling lonely and alienated. The digital world is here to stay, but what are families losing with technology's gain? As renowned clinical psychologist Catherine Steiner-Adair explains, families are in crisis as they face this issue, and even more so than they realize. Not only do chronic tech distractions have deep and lasting effects but children also desperately need parents to provide what tech cannot: close, significant interactions with the adults in their lives. Drawing on real-life stories from her clinical work with children and parents and her consulting work with educators and experts across the country, Steiner-Adair offers insights and advice that can help parents achieve greater understanding, authority, and confidence as they engage with the tech revolution unfolding in their living rooms.

This book examines the modern pandemic of online child sexual exploitation (OCSE). It explores the prevalence, perpetration, impact, and victimization of as well as therapy for child sexual exploitation and its interaction with child sexual abuse. Chapters discuss OCSE from neuropsychological, epidemiological, neurological, behavioral, psychological, clinical, neurobiological and epigenetic perspectives. The volume also addresses the physical and mental impact of early exposure to pornography. The book serves as a resource on an issue that is proving exponentially complex as technology ceaselessly evolves at a faster rate than its consequences can be understood and addressed. Key areas of coverage include: Neuropsychological changes and dysfunctional coping mechanisms resulting from both online and offline child sexual abuse. The psychological, emotional, and physical impacts (e.g., depression, anxiety, PTSD, and self-harm) of child sexual abuse. Prevention and early intervention strategies, including scalable technological responses. Developing a public health approach to preventing and addressing online child abuse and exploitation. Porn culture and its impact on children, adolescents, and emerging adults. The neurobiology and epigenetic impact of trauma. This book is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians, and graduate students in child and school psychology, public health, social work as well as interrelated disciplines, including neuropsychology, neurobiology, sociology, anthropology, and educational policy and politics.

The digital era has redefined our understanding of ethics as a multi-disciplinary phenomenon. The newness of the internet means it is still highly unregulated, which allows for rampant problems encountered by countless internet users. In order to establish a framework to protect digital citizenship, an academic understanding of online ethics is required. Multidisciplinary Approaches to Ethics in the Digital Era examines the concept of ethics in the digital environment through the framework of digitalization. Covering a broad range of topics including ethics in art, organizational ethics, and civil engineering ethics, this book is ideally designed for media professionals, sociologists, programmers, policymakers, government officials, academicians, researchers, and students.