Children in the digital world: How technology is changing childhood and how to protect them?

Technological transformation and childhood

The Chairperson of the Council for Electronic Media (CEM), Gabriela Naplatanova, called for extreme vigilance regarding the impact of technology on children. During the "ZaKrila" conference, she emphasized that society bears responsibility for the full development of children in an era of large-scale digital change.

Children acquire a screen device at an average age of five, but the recommendations are for the complete restriction of screens for children aged 0 to 2.

Main risks and guidelines from CEM

• Screen time: CEM has developed guidelines for parents, available on their official website.
• Media literacy: An important focus for older children to recognize aggression and online bullying.
• Parental control: The need to monitor the applications children use to prevent victimization.

European safety measures

At the European level, active work is being done on the Digital Services Act, which aims for age verification on video-sharing platforms. A revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive is forthcoming, which will affect content categorization, including the activities of influencers.

The digital world holds no fewer dangers than the physical one, and the responsibility for children's safe journey through this transformation is shared between institutions, parents, and society.