ABSTRACT
This chapter of the book provides a historical overview of what is known about young children and digital technologies, including consideration of children’s engagement with technologies and ongoing concerns about young children and digital technologies in the available literature. These concerns include those associated with children’s relationships and peer-to-peer interactions using digital technologies, the health and wellbeing implications of young children using digital technologies, the notion of children’s rights to digital technologies through the understanding of digital citizenship and online safety, and digital technologies in children’s play and learning. Adult management of these concerns via the publication and use of position statements or frameworks on young children and digital technologies is examined. A cultural study of technologies is briefly described to explain how variations in statements and frameworks account for adults trying to either directly manage children’s technology use through time limits or identify practices that facilitate children and adults using technologies according to their requirements of their social situations. Finally, the development of the Early Childhood Australia (2018) Statement on Young Children and Digital Technologies as a document intended to support adult decision-making about digital technology use “with, by, and for young children” (p. 4) is presented.
