ABSTRACT
Few would argue with the premise that digital media constitute a critical context of children’s development. For example, the average American child between 0 and 8 years of age spends an estimated 3.25 hours per day viewing or interacting with some kind of screen, and an estimated 27 percent of that time is spent with digital devices (Rideout, 2011). Their 4-to 7-year-old Dutch peers use mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers, for approximately 20 minutes per day on average (MijnKindOnline, 2013 as cited in O’Hare, 2014). A 2012 international study of older youth (8 to 18 years) also indicates high rates of mobile device and app use by children in Japan, India, Indonesia, Egypt, and Chile (GSMA, 2013).
