لخّصلي

INTRODUCTION
There have been noticeable increases in the
internet participation rate of children and
young people in all EU countries. However,
very young children (0-8) are showing
particularly increased patterns of internet use.
Tweens’ (9-12 year olds) usage patterns now
resemble those of teenagers five to six years
ago, and younger school-aged children’s
usage is increasing to the equivalent of
tweens’ previous use. Pre-schoolers are going
online too, and most babies under the age of
two in developed countries have an online
presence (or digital footprint). This report aims
to identify recent relevant evidence regarding
young children of eight years and under and
their increasing engagement with the internet.
It evaluates the quality of this evidence, the
research gaps and the implications for policy.
Despite very young children being established
as active internet users, policy resources are
typically directed to older children with most
concern focused on teenagers. Consequently,
little thought has been given to the protection
of very young children online, along with
minimal attention paid to the opportunities and
benefits offered to young children through
their internet engagement. EU Kids Online
has spent seven years considering children’s
engagement with the internet, within the 9-16
age range. This report, therefore, does not
address findings from original research by the
EU Kids Online network. However, the EU
Kids Online’s European Evidence Database1
,

1
For the European Evidence Database, see
http://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/EUKids
Online/DB/home.aspx
which collates other research on European
children’s online activities, risks and safety,
indicates that there is a paucity of published
research regarding children under nine years
old (Ólafsson et al, 2013).
Given the dramatic increase in internet uptake
by both young schoolchildren and preschool
children, parents and policy-makers have
been left without clear direction regarding the
benefits and risks involved — and about how
best to support children’s engagement with
the internet in safe and beneficial ways. It is to
be hoped that the evidence base will grow so
as to inform the development of relevant
policy, support safety education, build public
awareness and assist parents in the effective
mediation of their young children’s internet
use.
Zero to eight: Young children and their internet use
8
HOW MANY CHILDREN AGED 0-8 ARE ONLINE?
There are a limited number of studies mapping
the ongoing rise of very young children’s
internet use across Europe. European
Commission (EC) research over the last
decade indicates that children are using the
internet at younger and younger ages. For
example, a 2005 survey of parents in member
countries indicated that 34% of 6-7 year olds
used the internet while the equivalent 2008
survey found that 42% of 6 year olds and 52%
of 7 year olds used the internet (European
Commission, 2006, 2008). These figures show
both greater take up in some national
populations and greater take up in the younger
age groups over all the countries included in
the EC survey.
More recent surveys from individual EU
countries indicate that internet take up by
children under nine is continuing to rise, and
that children are accessing the internet at
younger and younger ages:
 UK: A third of 3 to 4 year olds go online
“using a desktop PC, laptop or netbook and
6% who are going online [do so] via a tablet
computer and 3% via a mobile phone”
(Ofcom, 2012, p. 5). In addition to this, 87%
of 5-7 year olds are known to use the
internet — a rise from 68% in 2007 (Ofcom,
2012).
 Germany: 21% of the 6-7 years old and
48% of the 8-9 year old use the internet “at
least rarely” (Medienpädagogischer
Forschungsverbund Südwest 2012a, p. 33).
 Finland: 64% of 7 year olds use the internet
(Paajarvi, 2012).
 Belgium: 70% of Flemish pre-schoolers are
online, usually from the age of 3 to 4
onwards, and mostly on a regular basis of
at least several times a month (Tuewen et
al, 2012, p, 1).
 Sweden: 70% of 3 to 4 year olds go online
at least sometimes (Findahl, 2013).
 Netherlands: 78% of Dutch toddlers and
pre-schoolers are already online and 5% of
babies under 1 are going online (Brouwer et
al, 2011).
 Austria: Almost half of 3-6 year olds use the
internet on a regular basis (Jungwirth,
2013).
 Norway: 58% of 0-6 year olds go online
(Guðmundsdóttir and Hardersen, 2012).
These more recent increases in Europe reflect
a worldwide trend, especially in developed
countries. For example, in South Korea (the
country with the world’s highest high-speed
internet penetration), 93% of 3-9 year olds go
online for an average of 8-9 hours a week (Jie,
2012). In the US, 25% of 3 year olds go online
daily, rising to about 50% by age 5 and nearly
70% by age 8 (Gutnick et al, 2011). In
Australia, 79% of children aged between 5-8
years go online at home (Australian Bureau of
Statistics, 2012).
How many children aged 0-8 are
using touchscreens?
The introduction of iPads and other
touchscreen devices is occurring at the same
time as sudden increases in the rate of
computer and internet use by toddlers and preschoolers,
as well as by young school children.
9
There are now thousands of apps available that
are aimed directly at the early childhood
market. This trend is most evident in existing
‘high use’ countries, and seems unanticipated
by researchers and policy makers. Some data
gathering is now underway in Europe:
 50% of Swedish children aged between 3
and 4 use tablet computers and 25% use
smartphones (Findahl, 2013).
 In Norway, 23% of children 0 to 6 years old
have access to touchscreens at home, with
32% first using touchscreens before the
age of 3 (Guðmundsdóttir & Hardersen,
2102).
 In Germany, 17% of families with children
aged 3-7 and 18% of families with children
6-11 have touchscreen tablets
(Medienpädagogischer Forschungsverbund
Südwest, 2012a).
 In the UK between 2011 and 2012, use of a
“tablet computer has increased for 5-7s
(11% vs. 2%), 8-11s (13% vs. 6%)” (Ofcom,
2012, p. 4).
 In the Netherlands, a survey of 575 parents
found that touchscreens were very popular
with children 3-6 years old and that these
children seemed able to handle
touchscreens more successfully than
personal computers with keyboards and
mouse controllers (Brouwer et al, 2011).
While only 7% of families in this study
owned a touchscreen tablet, 11% planned
to buy a tablet in the next 12 months. The
researchers expected rapid growth in the
number of households with tablets, and
many of these households also include
young children (Brouwer et al, 2011).
Between 2011 and 2012, there was a tripling of
UK children’s at-home use of touchscreen
tablets (Ofcom, 2012), so the current rate of
uptake is likely to be considerably higher. In
most studies, the data collected fail to capture
touchscreen use by children aged two and
under.
Zero to eight: Young children and their internet use
10
WHAT RESEARCH EVIDENCE EXISTS?
Very young children are “growing up at ease
with digital devices that are rapidly becoming
the tools of the culture at home, at school, at
work, and in the community” (NAEYC, 2012, p.
2). Digital and media literacy has been a
curriculum focus in the early childhood
classroom in many European countries for at
least a decade. As such, educational
institutions seem better prepared to integrate
new technologies within educational settings.
On the other hand, the domestic consumption
of the internet by very young children has had
little research attention.
Figure 1: Number of studies per age in Europe. Source: Ólafsson et al, (2013). EU Kids
Online’s European Evidence
Note: The studies are multi coded and most studies cover more than one age group. Even though a particular age-group
has been included in a study it does not necessarily mean that individuals from that group have been interviewed in
person.
Over the past ten years or so there have been
a growing number of research projects in
Europe regarding children’s online access,
internet use and behaviours. EU Kids Online’s
European Evidence Database shows that the
bulk of this research focuses on older children
and teens (Figure 1). Indeed, in our review of
some 1200 studies, only one in five included
any children under nine years old, and only 4%
included children aged birth to four years old2
.
Nonetheless, this means that over two hundred

2
Specifically, 20% of the studies include any
children at all aged below 9 years. This would be
around 230 studies (bearing in mind that the
definition of ‘a study’ can be somewhat fuzzy).
Looking at 0-4 year olds only 4% of studies include
any children at all in this age group (or around 50
studies). All of the studies including 0-4 year olds
8 9 16 40 50 75
140 161
211
303
372
439
585 626
712 757 720
626 599
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18+
11
studies included children aged from birth to
eight, and in the present report we draw
selectively upon these.
The research focus upon older children and
teens reflects the fact that there is some
correlation between the number of teenagers
using the internet and the number of studies of
their internet use. However, many younger
children are now going online and there is not,
at this stage, an equivalent increase in studies
of children in this age group (Ólafsson et al,
2013).
The lack of studies focusing on very young
children may reflect the difficulties of involving
this age group in research projects. Their lack
of reading and writing skills make them less
able to engage in traditional survey-based data
collection, either online or via pencil and paper.
It is understandable, therefore, that the
research that does involve pre-schoolers and
other young children is mostly qualitative and
explorative in nature. Although this qualitative
research is more time consuming, it does
enable the voices of very young children to be
heard. Even so, the need for more research
involving younger children raises extra
challenges regarding methodology, research
ethics and funding (Livingstone & Haddon,
2008).

also include children from the 5-8 year old group so
the very young children seem to be not studied as a
separate group but rather included with older
children. The same applies for the 0-8 year old
group in relation to older children that studies rarely
focus on this group alone. Around half (54%) of
studies including children from the 0-4 year old
group also include children aged 11 years or older
and 82% of studies including children from the 5-8
year old group also include children aged 11 years
or older
The rise in internet uptake by children aged
between 0 and 8 is not uniform. Considerable
differences exist between EU countries as well
as within these countries, so it is not always
possible to generalise across countries. For
example, in 2010 internet access for
households with children in the EU ranged
between 50% in Romania to 99% in the
Netherlands and Finland (Eurostats, 2010). Of
the 70 per cent of 7-8 year-olds who used the
internet weekly in Finland in 2009, a majority
preferred gaming-oriented sites. Gender
differences exist, however. For instance, girls
“preferred sites that fall between children- and
youth-oriented social networks and gaming
sites, such as panfu.fi, littlepetshop.com, and
gosupermodel.com.” (Suoninen, 2010 p.14).
Finnish boys had different gaming preferences.
Research which differentiates and explains
differences between and within EU countries is
needed in order to maximise support for all
children to negotiate the internet in safe and
beneficial ways.
Zero to eight: Young children and their internet use
12
WHAT DO 0-8 YEAR-OLDS DO ON THE INTERNET?
Research regarding exactly what European
children aged under nine are doing on the
internet is somewhat sketchy. Some countries
have begun to track what very young children
do on the internet while others are yet to do so.
Children in this age group treat the internet as a
source of entertainment. Those under the age
of 3 or 4 are more likely to spend their time
watching video clips (Childwise, 2012; Findahl,
2012; Teuwen et al, 2012). For instance,
YouTube is the second favourite site for
children under 5 in the UK (Childwise, 2012).
When they reach 3 or 4 they also become
interested in playing games online (Childwise,
2012; Teuwen et al, 2012). As these young
children get older they widen their internet
usage to include information seeking,
completing homework and socialising (Ofcom,
2012; Childwise, 2012, Guðmundsdóttir&
Hardersen, 2011; Findahl, 2012).
Virtual worlds
Children’s virtual worlds are simulated internet
environments in which children play and
interact with each other via avatars. The
number of children accessing virtual worlds is
on the increase with the most significant growth
expected in pre-teen users aged 3-11 (“Teen,
Preteen”, 2009). Security software company
AVG’s digital diaries research project,
conducted in 2011 with six to nine year olds,
found that 64% of UK children, 55% of Spanish
children, 46% of German children, 38% of
Italian children and 37% of French children are
using the social network functions on sites such
as Club Penguin, Minecraft, Moshie Monsters
and Webkinz (“Young Children”, 2011).
Table 1. Percentage of European children
aged 6-9 using SNS sites in 2010. Source:
“Young children”, 2011.
Virtual worlds Facebook
UK 23 56
Spain 37 61
Germany 5 12
Italy 0 3
France 3 14
Data collection in this area is sometimes
difficult to interpret because there is no
accepted definition concerning what a virtual
world is — and little differentiation between
‘playing games online’ and visiting ‘virtual
worlds’. Virtual worlds merge social network
functions with game playing and as such need
separate research attention regarding the
benefits and risks of going online to interact
with others.
Underage social networkers
Research regarding under-age access to social
networking sites provided for teenagers and
adults (such as Facebook) can be problematic
due to underreporting. However, the UK Safer
Internet Centre’s recent survey found that 30%
of 7-11 year olds reported having their own
Facebook profiles before they are 13: the
minimum age specified for membership
(Broadbent, Green & Gardner, 2013). In
Finland also, children under 13 frequently
13
mention Facebook as a favourite site (Pääjärvi,
2012). In 2010 the AVG digital diaries study
indicated that some children aged between six
and nine have their own Facebook accounts
(Table 1). They found that 10% of UK children,
11% of Spanish children, 6% of German
children, 22% of Italian children and 15% of
French children between the ages of six and
nine use Facebook (“Young Children”, 2011)
3
.
A detailed study carried out in Germany found
that 44% of children under 13 use social
network sites aimed at teenagers and adults.
The most visited sites were Facebook (13+)
and schülerVZ
4
(12+). More specifically, 5% of
6-7 year olds and 18% of 8-9 year olds used
these sites in 2012. These percentages are
expected to rise in the next few years
(Medienpädagogischer Forschungsverbund
Südwest 2012a). The expected rise in underage
usage signposts a critical need to
investigate young children’s ability to negotiate
these sites in a safe and beneficial manner —
as well as indicating the value in exploring
parental attitudes to this trend.
3
The Swedes and the Internet 2013 study indicates
that combining children aged 6-9 into one group
does not highlight the changes children tend to
undergo at about 8 or 9 years old. For instance, in
Sweden very few 6-7 year olds visit Facebook while
30% of 9 year olds do (Findahl, 2013). 4
schülerVZ does not exist anymore as it closed at
the end of April 2012.
Zero to eight: Young children and their internet use
14
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF VERY YOUNG CHILDREN
GOING ONLINE?
Apart from the obvious enjoyment many young
children experience playing games, watching
video clips and socialising online, their
engagement with the internet helps to develop
emergent digital literacies. It can also support
future academic achievement, playful
encounters and social interaction (Cavanaugh
et al, 2004; Johnson, 2010; Marsh, 2010;
Judge et al, 2006).
To a greater or lesser degree, European
countries support the provision of digital
technologies and the development of digital
literacy skills in their early childhood
classrooms, recognising that the internet
provides new opportunities for learning,
participation, creativity and communication with
others (Plowman et al, 2011). Recent increases
in internet use by children under the age of nine
(see Section 3) suggests that many parents
also support their young children’s early
exposure to the internet by providing them with
opportunities to explore and play online. At this
stage, however, there is little clear guidance
about how these very young children can learn,
explore and play online in safe and beneficial
ways.
Academic achievement
Longitudinal studies show a positive correlation
between internet use during early childhood
and achievement at school (Cavanaugh et al,
2004). A large-scale longitudinal study with
8,283 kindergarten, first and third grade
children in the US found that “frequent use of
the internet and proficiency in computer use
[….] correlated positively with academic
achievement” (Judge et al, 2006, p. 52). This
research also indicated that using a computer
at home was clearly advantageous to
achievement levels in reading and mathematics
(p. 57).
A recent longitudinal study in Australia which
investigated the vocabulary development of
over 9000 children aged between four and
eight years of age found that, after allowing for
socio-economic background and the time the
children spent reading, “having access to the
internet was positively related to verbal
abilities” (Bittman et al, 2011, p. 167). One
exception to this positive relationship is the use
of “games consoles and functional equivalents
[which] is associated with lower linguistic
abilities” (p. 172). Early childhood educators
understand the importance of digital
technologies as an integral learning tool which,
when used judiciously, promotes the language,
cognitive and social development of young
children (Couse & Chen, 2010; Gimbert &
Cristol, 2004; Information Society for
Technology in Education [ISTE], 2007; NAEYC,
2012).
15
Digital literacy, digital social skills
and digital citizenship
Many young children are entering their formal
schooling years with significant experience in
computer use and the internet. They show
emerging skills in navigating, retrieving and
creating content (Hopkins et al, 2013; EdwardGroves
& Langley, 2009; Siibak & Vinter, 2010;
Zevenbergen & Logan, 2008). Being literate in
a digital age involves multiple literacies - skills
in accessing, understanding, viewing and
creating in multiple digital formats.
These emerging digital literacy skills also form
the basis for responsible use of these
technologies (digital citizenship). Being able to
use computers and the internet effectively and
responsibly supports good interpersonal
relationships and promotes creativity, selfexpression
and individual identity-making. It
also helps strengthen a sense of belonging or
social connectedness and assists the
development of ‘digital social skills’ and ‘digital
citizenship’ (Holloway et al, 2013; Collin,
Richardson & Third, 2011).
Play and social interaction
Young children use the internet in ways that
reflect conventional childhood use of media and
communication technologies in previous
generations. They play, learn, interact and
maintain relationships with other children and
family members. Using emails, messaging,
playing in virtual worlds, and video
conferencing with friends and family are a few
examples of the ways in which the internet
sustains children’s social interaction and play.
Online play is, to some extent, comparable to
offline play. Marsh (2010) found that children’s
virtual worlds, in particular, offer online
interactions that are often “playful in nature”
and “closely related to offline play” (p. 23). She
noted that this virtual play included “fantasy
play, socio-dramatic play, ritualized play,
games with rules, and what might be called
‘rough and tumble’ play, albeit […] a virtual
version of offline physical play” (p. 30).
Although children’s interactions within some
virtual worlds may be risky and worthy of
further research, Marsh suggests that further
research is also warranted so as to “examine
their affordances more closely in order to
identify what children gain from their playful
engagement in these worlds” (p. 36).
Zero to eight: Young children and their internet use
16
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE RISKS FOR CHILDREN
AGED BETWEEN 0-8?
EU Kids Online research suggests that “lower
levels of skills and confidence claimed by
younger children are especially of concern”
(O’Neill et al, 2011b, p. 19). Although EU Kids
Online research has dealt with children aged
nine years and older, it is prudent to assume
that children younger than nine will have even
fewer skills in negotiating the risks involved in
going online than do 9-10 year olds. In addition
to this, EU Kids Online’s European Evidence
Database indicates that there is little in-depth
European research regarding the benefits and
risks of internet engagement for children aged
between birth and eight. This is especially true
of research which includes children’s own
experiences and opinions. Even so, 2013
survey data from Sweden indicates that 13% of
the parents of 3-7 year olds report that their
child has had negative internet experiences.
This is also the case with 20% of parents of 8-
11 year olds (Findahl, 2013).
A study of internet-readiness carried out in
Australia with 57 children aged between 5 and
8 found that children this age were more
vulnerable to internet harm than older children,
despite having an overall understanding of the
risks encountered while online. Most of the 57
children learned about internet risks from their
parents or other family members (Ey & Cupit,
2011). The 5 to 8 year-olds were able to
identify content risks (sexual content, violence,
inappropriate language) or contact risks
(meeting people they only know online).
Nonetheless, they displayed a degree of
naivety when they were presented with ‘real
life’ internet scenarios. They failed to identify
inappropriate communication, commercialism,
unreliable information and revealing personal
information as internet risks (Ey & Cupit, 2011).
For example, when asked if they would go to a
birthday party or go to the park for a game after
being invited by someone they only knew on
the internet, some said ‘yes’ (p. 62). In this
sense, young children’s knowledge about
internet risks may not always result in safe
behaviours in real life internet encounters.
Social network sites
Social networking sites (SNS) aimed at
teenagers have been criticised for their
inadequate default privacy settings, and for
paying less attention to monitoring respectful
conduct than the virtual worlds aimed at
primary school aged children (O’Neill, 2010).
Social network sites aimed at teenagers and
adults are being visited by children under the
minimum joining age, however, and concerns
have been voiced about whether primary
school children are developmentally ready for
online chat or networking (Bauman & Tantum,
2009). This is especially the case with the rise
in under-age access to sites such as Facebook,
which stipulates that members should be 13 or
older.
Although there is very little research outlining
children’s own experiences when visiting SNS
sites as under-aged participants, German
research indicates that 80% of the children
under 13 years of age who have an account on
a social network site, got support in setting up
17
their user accounts: 35% from a father, 33%
from a mother, 30% from friends and 17% from
siblings (Medienpädagogischer Forschungsverbund
Südwest 2012a, pp. 40). Moreover,
while conducted with 9-16 year olds only,
analysis of the EU Kids Online survey revealed
that where parents ban the use of social
networking sites, relatively younger users (9-
12) are likely to obey. It is mainly teenagers
who get a profile even if their parents have said
they should not (Livingstone, Ólafsson, &
Staksrud, 2013). Hence we might assume that
even younger children will be willing to follow
such parental advice.
Israeli researchers investigated the parental
supervision practices of 195 Facebook users
aged between 8 and 17. They found that 82%
of children under 13 had Facebook accounts
(Dor & Weinmann-Saks, 2012, p. 10). Parents
reported similar levels of at-home monitoring
for all children despite their age. However, the
parents of under-aged users were less likely to
co-use Facebook with their children. The
researchers suggested that this lack of online
monitoring is because parents perceive
younger children’s online activities, such as
playing games and chatting to friends, as
relatively innocuous compared to older
children’s (13+) online activities. It may also be
because “parents are not comfortable with the
situation in which they actually let their children
register this way [as under-agers falsifying their
birth date]” (p.11).
If such concerns hold true for parents of most
under-aged Facebook users, this might mean
that these children are at greater risk than older
children who have the benefit of active parental
monitoring. Such concerns also illustrate issues
caused by assuming that children’s online
activities are driven by age rather than desire,
and these findings underline the need to
research internet use across children’s ageranges
from babyhood through to late
adolescence.
Children’s virtual worlds
Researchers, educators and parents are all
aware of the potential risks posed by social
network sites in terms of children experiencing
bullying and exposure to inappropriate content.
What is missing from the research agenda is
investigation into the increasing use of
“Websites designed for younger children that
have components of social networking” (
Graber, 2012, p. 85). Children as young as five
are joining virtual worlds such as Minecraft,
Moshi Monsters and Club Penguin.
These virtual worlds typically have filters, which
make it difficult for children to exchange
personal information. In addition to this, realtime
moderation usually takes place within
children’s virtual worlds (peer, in-game, silent
and/or automated) in order to deter instances of
bullying or abusive behaviour. Notwithstanding
these safety features, younger children can still
be troubled by behaviours they encounter while
playing in virtual worlds.
Younger children seem less resilient (due to
their age) and can become distressed when
things go wrong: when they are socially
excluded from games by known friends; when
friends and siblings misuse their online profiles;
and when they encounter virtual losses (games
being hijacked or ruined, or losing virtual
currency) (Holloway et al, 2013). There are also
concerns about young children’s “competence
Zero to eight: Young children and their internet use
18
to negotiate online commercial content”
(Nansen et al. 2012, p. 204).
Researchers also question whether children
this age are developmentally ready or have the
critical skills needed to keep them safe when
they play and interact within virtual worlds
(Bauman & Tantum 2009; Ey & Cupit, 2011).
The rise in the number of children inhabiting
virtual worlds requires “a better understanding
of the ways that social networking sites mediate
kids’ socializing” (Grimes & Fields, 2012) as
well as the skills and abilities children under
nine need to handle risk in virtual worlds.
Video sharing sites
Video viewing is now one of the earliest internet
activities carried out by young children (see
Section 5). Sites such as YouTube offer a
range of educational and entertainment videos
for the very young. For instance, YouTube’s
Sesame Street channel recently reached a
billion views (Luckerson, 2013). Once children
are set up in front of the
computer/tablet/smartphone, however, the
easy-to-use graphic interfaces allow children as
young as two or three years old to activate
other videos from the suggested playlist that
appears alongside the content preferred by the
adult in charge (Buzzi, 2012).
In this way, young children’s safe and beneficial
access to these sites can be problematic.
Parents and social commentators are now
raising concerns about the ease with which
very young children can access ageinappropriate
videos on sites such as YouTube
and Tumblr (Blythe-Goodman, 2010; Agarwal,
2012; Dewey, 2013). A content study of popular
children’s videos on YouTube found that young
users “are just three clicks away from content
better suited to a more mature audience”
(Dewey, 2013 Feb 6). By clicking or touching
the playlist choices on the sidebar, children can
inadvertently access adult-orientated footage.
A survey of 100 Italian parents with children
aged between two and thirteen found that a
number of their children had watched
inappropriate content on YouTube (Buzzi,
2012). EU Kids Online research also reports
that European children (9-16) are sometimes
bothered by clips they view on video sharing
sites such as YouTube and Redtube. When
they are exposed to videos of explicit
pornography, violence, schoolyard bullying,
cruelty to animals and real life car accidents
children often find this content upsetting
(Livingstone et al, 2013 p. 6). While the EU
Kids Online findings related to children aged 9-
16, many quotations indicating distress came
from the youngest children in that survey, aged
9-10, and thus it is unfortunate that there
seems to be minimal research investigating
very young children’s (0-8) responses to what
they encounter on video sharing sites.
In order to minimise these risks there are calls
to “evaluate the usability of [current] YouTube
user interfaces for signalling or blocking
inappropriate content” (Buzzi, 2012). It has also
been recommended that YouTube and other
video sharing sites ensure all videos are
classified before they are uploaded to their
sites (Buzzi 2012; Agarwal, 2012); and that
reliable, easy-to-use safety functions and other
alert and blocking functions should be put in
place (Buzzi, 2012 p. 250).
19
Mobile technologies and apps
Young children constitute a large user group for
mobile technologies, accessing the internet
through a variety of devices (Ofcom, 2012).
Preferred digital access points include iPods,
touchscreen computer tablets, e-readers,
laptops and smart toys. Tablet devices are also
being integrated into a variety of children’s toys
and other products. These mobile technologies
enhance access to and enjoyment of the
internet for all children. At the same time, the
privacy and safety of children using these
multiple devices may be compromised. Security
and safety settings can be complicated for both
parents and children and often involve different
operating environments even in apparently
similar technologies. In the case of
smartphones and touchscreen tablets, many
children’s apps draw upon specific user
information without the child’s or their parents’
knowledge. This information may include the
child’s identity details, geo-location or phone
number. In addition to this, some operating
environments also provide links to social
network sites within the apps without divulging
this before the user downloads the app5
.
A recent analysis regarding privacy disclosure
and information collection and sharing practices
within children’s apps, carried out by the
Federal Trade Commission in the US, found
that of the 400 children’s apps they surveyed:
 “nearly 60% (235) of the apps reviewed
transmitted device ID to the developer or,
more commonly, an advertising network,
analytics company, or other third party […
while] only 20% (81) of the apps reviewed

5
See http://www.siliconrepublic.com/digitallife/item/31005-the-week-in-gadgets-ces-20

disclosed any information about the app’s
privacy practices” (Mohapatra & Hasty
2012, p. 6).
 “22% (88) of the apps reviewed contained
links to social networking services, while
only 9% (36) disclosed such linkage prior to
download” (Mohapatra & Hasty 2012, p.
20).
Little else is known about the relationships
between specific internet-enabled devices and
the benefits or risk srelated to their use by very
young children, especially in terms of mobile
devices and internet safety. Identifying and
contextualising children’s and their parents’
practices around different devices will help
pinpoint the age, circumstances and devices
more likely to be associated with safe and
beneficial internet use for young children.
Tablets and early childhood
development
Touchscreen technologies lend themselves to
the sensorimotor stage of very young children
who readily pick them up and press the buttons
and icons with little direction or modelling from
adults (Valkenburg, 2004). This ease of use
allows a greater of degree of independence for
young children who can explore and play with
touchscreens relatively unaided, especially in
contrast to laptops or PCs, which usually
require the assistance of older users to work
the keyboard or mouse.
Babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers are at
crucial developmental stages where the
foundations are set for many physical, social
and intellectual capacities. It is therefore not
surprising that the recent uptake of touchscreen
technologies by very young children has
intensified debate and discussion regarding the
Zero to eight: Young children and their internet use
20
place of screen technologies in early childhood
development. However, there is a range of
differing opinions regarding the role of screen
technologies in the early years of life.
Educators are increasingly acknowledging the
importance of technology in the early childhood
classroom. For instance, long standing
curriculum guidelines in the UK tends to focus
on emergent technological literacy, as well as
the practical use of ICT tools for the early
years:
Children need the opportunity to explore
and play with computers just as they do
with other forms of ICT, such as cassette
recorders. This kind of play acts as the
foundation for more structured use of
applications later on. It means that ICT
must be integrated across the curriculum
(Siraj-Blatchford & Siraj-Blatchford, 2000,
p.1).
On the other hand, advice given by the
American Academy of Pediatrics regarding
screen time in early childhood is often quite
restrictive — with no screen time advised for
children under two, including the avoidance of
all background television (Brown, 2011). This
advice was developed for older screen
technologies, and provided before the adoption
of smartphones and tablets by very young
children. Much of the research literature
advising strict limits on screen time is
“discursive rather than evidence based”
(McPake et al, 2013, p. 423). The body of
research supporting this stance also tends to
connect ownership or usage of screen
technologies too readily with (insufficiently
supported) “hypotheses about their effects”
(McPake et al, 2013, p. 423).
There are also concerns regarding very young
children’s screen activities and their attention
span or general brain function (Miller, 2005;
Zimmerman et al, 2007; Christakas, 2009).
However, there has been no published
research to date regarding touchscreen
technologies. Dr Jordy Kaufman (2013), who is
currently researching the cognitive effects of
iPads on children aged between 4 and 6,
suggests that it is more likely that ‘what’ young
children do on their touchscreen is of greater
significance than general screen usage:
Children can read literature, watch
educational television, create fantastic
works of art, learn maths and science, and
have video chat conversations with their
grandparents on screens. But they can
also play age-inappropriate games, and
spend countless hours passively watching
non-educational videos (Kaufman, 2013).
It may be more important, therefore, for future
research to differentiate between the variety of
screen activities available to young children
rather than referring to overall usage rates or
promoting blanket condemnation of screen use
by young children.
Some of the concerns regarding young
children’s screen time focuses on the
displacement of time spent on other activities
such as play and social interaction — both
important to children’s cognitive, social and
physical development (Linn, 2010). Children’s
advocates and media commentators tend to
blame each new ICT technology (television,
computers, gaming platforms, touchscreens)
for the erosion of children’s playtime — often
without reference to other social and economic
changes that have progressively eroded
21
children’s play time over the last few
generations (Ginsburg, 2007). For instance,
working parents tend to have less time to
supervise outdoor play (McBride, 2012);
generations of parents have progressively
restricted the places or boundaries where
children can play unsupervised (Louv, 2005;
Tandy, 1999); and spontaneous play has
progressively been replaced by adult organised
activities (Skår & Krogh, 2009). This gradual
reduction in children’s play opportunities brings
into question whether or not home-based
entertainment technologies are the single, or
even the major, reason for the decline in
spontaneous play.
Other qualitative research regarding tabloid
technologies and the pre-school child examines
whether ‘digital play’ promotes the child’s
development, as real world play does
(Verenikina & Kervin, 2011). Verenikina and
Kervin’s case study indicates that children aged
between 3 to 5 have “positive experiences with
digitally mediated imaginative play” and that
children’s use of iPads in the home often
involves face-to-face social interaction with
other family members (2011). As digital natives,
young children incorporate digital technologies
into their play without differentiation. Adults, on
the other hand, tend to revisit their own
childhood when constructing idealised notions
of children’s play — as unspoiled and free from
digital technologies (Zevenbergen, 2005).
Timely research which engages with young
children’s everyday lives and looks beyond
general ‘screen-time’ will go some way towards
building a more applied evidence base from
which policy and recommendations to parents
can be developed. In particular, a more
nuanced understanding of ‘screen time’ (what
activity, how often, with whom and for how
long) is needed in order to understand fully the
impact of touchscreen technologies upon early
childhood development (Kaufman, 2013).
Zero to eight: Young children and their internet use
22
WHAT ARE THE FAMILIES OF VERY YOUNG CHILDREN
DOING?
The rise in young children’s (0-8) internet use
has not yet been matched by evidence-based
research investigating the role that families
have in mediating young children’s internet use.
In Sweden (and most likely other EU countries),
it is young parents aged between 25 and 45,
who are themselves experienced internet
users, who are providing their children with
access to a greater variety of internet-enabled
devices. Parents who are more affluent are
more likely to provide access to the newest
technologies such as touchscreen tablets
(Findahl, 2013). Given that other research also
shows that parents tend to feel less troubled
about their younger children’s internet use than
their older children’s use (Brouwer et al, 2011;
Plowman et al, 2010, Wagner et al, 2013),
further consideration of the role of families in
effectively mediating the digital life of very
young children is warranted.
Parental mediation
There is some available evidence indicating
differences in family mediation practices
between and within EU countries. Nikken and
Janz (2011) found that parents of 792 Dutch
children aged between 2 and 12 reported being
actively involved in guiding their young
children’s internet use and paying more
attention to younger children in this age group.
Socioeconomic differences were also noted,
with children from more privileged families
receiving slightly more active mediation than
those from poorer families (2011).
In Estonia, on the other hand, Vinter and Siibak
found that “parents either delegate their role as
mediators to older siblings or enforce
restrictions” (2012 p. 78). Focus group
interviews with children (aged 5-7 years old)
and their parents revealed that parents were
less likely than with older children to engage in
active mediation, relying instead on older
siblings to mediate in their place. This 2012
study highlights the role some older siblings
have in guiding, supervising and influencing
very young children’s choices on the internet. It
also underlines the importance of interviewing
children themselves (as well as their parents)
when researching family mediation practices,
and the risks and benefits of the internet use for
very young children.
The role of siblings
The Estonian study above highlights the
potential influence that older siblings have on
young children’s internet use. Having an older
sibling makes it more likely for very young
children to start using the internet at an even
younger age (Teuwen et al 2012; Brouwer et al
2011; Stevens et al, 2008). Stevens, Satwicz
and McCarthy (2008) carried out an
observational study within family contexts and
noted that older siblings tended to encourage
and mediate younger siblings’ use of digital
media in the home. Older siblings
demonstrated to their younger brothers and
sisters how to use the internet, access virtual
worlds and use social network sites such as
23
Facebook — thereby encouraging early
exploration of these sites (Barone, 2012).
These findings suggest that the role of siblings
in guiding, supervising and influencing young
children’s internet choices may be of particular
importance to investigators researching the
risks and benefits of the internet for young
children below nine years of age. The findings
also highlight the importance of incorporating
detailed investigation of family members’
sociocultural practices around internet use in
the home, requiring researchers to be
responsive to issues and themes coming out of
children’s and parents’ own reflections about
the family context of media internet use
(Holloway & Green, 2008, 2013).
Parents and their children’s digital
footprint
Many children below the age of nine were born
with the first fragment of their ‘digital footprint’
already available online. These youngsters will
be the first generation to experience the
aggregated effect of living in a digital world over
their whole lifetime. They will inherit their digital
profiles as a work in progress from parents who
often assume that the information they post
carries the privacy and security levels available
to them at the time of posting, or who did not
consider such issues when they posted their
child’s ultrasound photos or doctors’ reports.
Parents create these digital profiles when they
upload sonogram pictures, post about their
experiences in pregnancy, upload photos of
their newborns and add further commentary as
their children grow. A 2010 survey carried out
for AVG noted that 73% of babies whose
mothers had an SNS profile in the UK, France,
Italy, Germany and Spain already had an online
digital profile before they reached two years of
age (Williams, 2013). A more recent survey of
632 parents of 2-5 year olds in Germany found
that 53% of parents were members of a social
network and 33% published information about
their child. Of these parents, 88% posted
pictures of their child, 42% posted information
about child’s experiences/activities and 14%
posted videos of the child
(Medienpädagogischer Forschungsverbund
Südwest , 2012b, p. 72).
Table 2: Digital footprint survey data from
mothers who are on SNS and have children
under 2 years. Source (Digital Birth, 2010)
Mothers who
have
uploaded
images of
child under 2
Mothers who
uploaded
images of
their newborn

Mothers who
have
uploaded
antenatal
scans online
UK 81% 37% 23%
France 74% 26% 13%
Italy 68% 26% 14%
Germany 71% 30% 15%
Spain 71% 24% 24%
USA 92% 33% 34%
Canada 84% 37% 37%
Australia 84% 41% 26%
New Zealand 91% 41% 30%
Japan 43% 19% 14%
EU5 average 73% 29% 20%
Overall
average
81% 33% 23%
These parents are establishing their children’s
digital footprints in social networking sites that
can alter privacy policies without clearance
from individual users. In addition to this, friends,
relatives or other contacts can effectively
bypass individual privacy settings when they
repost or retweet information. Facebook, in
Zero to eight: Young children and their internet use
24
particular, has a history of steadily decreasing
“the default settings of users’ profiles” (O’Neill,
2010). In this sense, “many of the digital traces
persist and can often be easily (re-) attached to
the children in question later in life” (Leaver,
2011).
Parents are also writing blogs describing the
lives of their children (McCarthy, 2010, Apr 14),
and posting videos on YouTube such as the
2007 viral sensation Charlie bit my finger
(Shifman 2012). Although these postings are
not intentionally malicious, parents need to be
aware that their children’s online dossiers are
likely to be with them for the rest of their lives.
Children may not be happy with their inherited
profile. For example, parents who advocate “for
causes such as autism or diabetes after their
children are diagnosed have essentially ‘outed’
their kids without the children’s permission”
(Bonnie Harris interviewed in TillotsonMcClatch,
2010). These children have not
chosen to have a digital profile, they have not
chosen what they want to make public or with
whom they want to share this information
(Bakardjieva, 2010 interviewed in Kadane
2010).
Concerns about risks and harm for very young
children consequently also involve strategies
for parental education regarding protection of
their children’s privacy “going forward in a world
of technology” (McCarthy, 2010), as well as
engagement with online service providers who
should include such considerations in their user
consent policies and should accept the
responsibility to ‘take-down’ information in a
wide range of circumstances