Childhood and adolescence today take place increasingly in digital environments. If digital platforms are everyday growth environments for children and young people, how can the digital sector make them as meaningful and safe as possible? There is a growing demand for technological solutions that prioritise children’s safety and well-being.

Rapidly evolving digital environments affect young people

In Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (MLL)’s media education work and as part of Finnish Safer Internet Centre’s activities, we listen to children and young people’s thoughts about the digital world. Young people are concerned about the time spent in digital environments, online hate speech, and cyberbullying. In our most recent survey on media use among young people (3,627 young people ages 9 to 22, MLL 2024), we also explored their views on phone use during lessons. As the public debate on smart phones at schools has been heating up in recent months, we wanted to hear what young people themselves had to say about the matter. According to MLL’s survey, 30 per cent of respondents said that other students’ phone use disrupts lessons.

For many young people, friends and social relationships are the primary reasons for using digital technology, especially social media. Nearly a quarter of young people stated that social media and digital games have helped them get to know new people at school. However, peer relationships online are not without challenges. Feelings of exclusion and loneliness associated with digital media use are on the rise. A quarter of young people feel that nothing can be done to stop cyberbullying.

Young people, however, also have the ability and willingness to think of technical solutions to curb online bullying. In their survey responses, they encourage social media platforms to adjust their services so that publishing or consuming hostile or discriminatory content becomes more difficult. They also suggest more active moderation and advanced use of AI to reduce malicious language and bullying on platforms.

AI plays an increasing role in children’s digital experiences on social media and other platforms – for better or worse. This requires parents and teachers to guide children to interact with AI safely and ethically, even though most adults are also navigating this new territory. AI-based technologies can create opportunities for learning and creativity but also increase risks such as bullying, misinformation, or exposure to harmful content.

The development of AI highlights the need to support children’s and young people’s digital skills and media literacy. The digital sector and policymakers must now pay particular attention and take responsibility to ensure that children’s rights are protected in AI development.

Supporting digital skills of youth requires action

When it comes to online bullying and other digital challenges faced by young people, one recurring issue stands out in every survey: young people do not tell trusted adults when they encounter bullying, distressing content, or unsafe situations online. However, children and young people should never have to face digital challenges alone.

In MLL’s media education work, we have consistently strengthened parents’ and professionals’ capacity for media education by raising awareness. We have encouraged adults to take an active role in ensuring safe and well-being-oriented digital experiences for children and young people in numerous parental evenings. Similarly, for over a decade, we have engaged directly with children and young people on this topic through MLL’s school lessons. MLL’s Helpline, chat, and online letter services for children and youth are also available every day of the year to support children and young people with questions about media use and digital environments. Additionally, we provide information to support digital skills on our website YouthNet (Nuortennetti in Finnish).

In October 2024, in collaboration with telecommunications company Elisa, we delivered a live-streamed digital well-being lesson, the SuperDigitalSchool (SuperDigikoulu in Finnish), which garnered, unprecedentedly, over 70,000 upper secondary school participants from over 420 schools across Finland.

At Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, we firmly believe that every child has the right to grow and develop in a digitalised and digitalising society.

A meaningful digital world for children and young people is a shared effort

The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) has introduced additional protections for minors in digital environments. This same call for responsibility is increasingly echoed in MLL’s parent evenings and communications. More and more parents and guardians are paying attention to the safety and age-appropriateness of apps and platforms.

There is a clear demand for technological solutions and innovations that recognize and uphold children’s rights. Companies that design products and services with children in mind could stand out in the digital marketplace. The digital sector can promote societal development by creating models and products that support children’s growth, digital literacy, and safe online environments.

Research shows that the diverse socio-economic backgrounds of families influence the situations young people encounter online and their digital well-being. Providers of digital services and products must not assume that all children and young people receive support from their care givers for safe use of digital environments. Safety considerations must be integrated at every level of product and service design from the perspective of minor users.

Additionally, it is crucial that in homes, schools, and technological development processes, we ask children and young people themselves what they think about digital products and services and what they hope for from them.

Could Finland become a digital leader rooting for children’s rights?

Children and young people are shaping the digital environments and tools of the future. How will the ICT sector take into account the children and young people growing up in the digital age? It is up to us adults – educators, policymakers, and service providers – to determine the kind of guidance and ethical frameworks we provide. This is not just about the digital technologies children and young people use or that are designed for them. It’s also about how various digital products and services affect children’s lives and shape their experiences and opportunities for growth and development.

Could Finland’s digital sector become a leader in the European digital markets with responsible and child-cantered digital and cybersecurity expertise, products, and services? There is a demand for forward-looking technological solutions that prioritise user safety and well-being, especially for children. If the need for safe and responsible design of digital services and tool for minors is taken seriously into account, the Finnish ICT sector, with its knowledge and talent, could very well hit a gold mine.

Child-centred development in the digital sector is the sum of many factors, but above all, it is a matter of will: the willingness to actively build a better digital world for children.

Find more information about the work of the Finnish Safer Internet Centre, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline, and youth participation services, or find similar information for other Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.

Author: Rauna Rahja, Media Education Specialist, Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (MLL)