In 2020, when eSafety provided advice to parents of children under 5 on how to model consent, we were met with disbelief.
Our tip? As often as you can, ask your child if they would like to be in a photo before you take it and, crucially, before you share it online.
Some media commentators and members of the public found this advice absurd. "Surely you don't need to ask your toddler for permission to take their photo? Isn't that taking things too far?"
The point of that advice, which we stand by, is that it’s never too early to encourage good online habits, including by modelling consent when taking and sharing photos.
And today, results from a landmark four-year research project put that advice into practice. The Young Children in Digital Society website, launching today, is a go-to online hub, featuring 40 resources for educators, based on research and evidence and tested with children and educators in early childhood services.
The overall message is clear: by modelling good sharing practices and integrating digital technologies safely from a young age, you lay the foundations for more positive online experiences as children grow older.
The new catalogue of online resources provides a one-stop hub for early childhood educators, backed by industry partners including eSafety, Early Childhood Australia, ABC Kids, Australian Federal Police, Raising Children Network, and the Alannah & Madeline Foundation.
Led by respected academic and researcher, Professor Suzy Edwards at the Australian Catholic University, the project also brings expertise from Curtin, Deakin, Monash and La Trobe Universities, and the University of Canberra.
There’s no doubt young children are online earlier than ever. Our research shows that 81 per cent of Australian parents say their children aged 2 to 5 use the internet. Of those parents, 42 per cent said their child first began to use the internet by the age of two and 94 per cent said their child was using the internet by the age of four.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Being online at a young age can help children build valuable skills through exploration, play and social interaction. But there are risks too, especially when devices are connected to the internet without supervision, or for extended periods of time.
As Australia’s national online safety educator, coordinator and regulator, eSafety wants to ensure our children can create, connect and explore the wonders of technology safely and backed by robust evidence.
Technology platforms were not built in the best interests of the child so it’s up to all of us to ensure that children’s best interests are realised when they are online.
While we continue our important work to push the tech industry to embed Safety by Design into their products from the get-go, equally as important is whole-of-sector collaboration which takes the guess work out of early childhood practice.
All of the resources on 'Young Children in Digital Society' are developed and mapped to the Australian Early Years Learning Framework and the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.
eSafety resources which feature on the website include:
- Swoosh, Glide and Rule Number 5 – a children’s story book about sugar glider twins as they learn the 5 family rules for being safe online
- Early Years professional learning – self-paced online professional learning modules developed with Early Childhood Australia for early childhood educators
- a professional learning program for lower primary teachers – evidence-based advice about how to teach online safety in the classroom, developed with Early Childhood Australia
- Mighty Heroes – a suite of activities featuring Australian bush characters, Wanda the echidna, River the sugar glider, Dusty the frilled neck lizard and Billie the bilby, who help children aged 5 to 8 navigate the online world.
Thankfully, discussion around consent, online safety and modelling good behaviour has moved forward and matured since 2020, and I don’t think our advice would get quite the same reaction today. Importantly, it did get the conversation started. And today marks another important milestone to further empower educators, parents and carers to navigate complex online challenges.
