Week 6

Why should teachers care about digital literacy and childhood in the digital age?

This blog post is a brief examination into digital literacies and their relevance in today’s society, with reference to children’s exposure to the digital world. This is in response to a chapter from Palmer (2006) Toxic Childhood.

Palmer (2006) outlines the many dangers of the digital age, with a particular focus on children, and what influences them in their day-to-day life. From reading this article, it is clear to see that children are not only being exposed digitally to content that may or may not be appropriate but, they are also not growing up in a nurturing environment due to this. Of course, it is different in each individual household, and some parents may not permit their children to be part of the digital age. However, the growing consensus is that children have easy access to all sorts of content on the Internet, and through the television.

Palmer (2006) stresses the point that most children today, are being left with the ‘electronic babysitter’ that is the television, and not gaining the quality interaction in the early years. Conversely the television offers children a wide range of not only entertaining programmes, but also educational ones, which Palmer (2006) expresses are a great talking point for children and adults.

As a trainee teacher, this is a potent issue, as more and more hours of young children’s lives are spent in front of the television, their attention span lessens, and it becomes more difficult to engage children in their education, which could be due to the fast paced, bright, moving images that are presented in children’s television programmes (Palmer, 2006). However, does this mean that as adults we should control what children can and cannot watch? Surely if a television show is age appropriate, that is all that matters, because after all television was invented as a source of entertainment, not education. This is reiterated in Buckingham’s (2004) research, which states that children will become part of the digital age even if there is no attempt of educating children in this area, or trying to promote this to them. Buckingham’s (2004) findings suggest that no matter what attempts parents or teachers have at stopping their exposure to digital literacies, it is all in vein, as they will eventually become part of the digital age.

Although the National Curriculum for 2014 (DfE, 2013) does not explicitly state that the use of digital literacies is promoted, there is an overarching aim for children to be able to communicate effectively, and with the best medium that they think appropriate. This could be through the use of digital literacies, or using information technology to communicate or present ideas. Furthermore, the National Curriculum for English (DfE, 2013) states that the main aim is for children to be able to fully participate in modern society; without the use of digital literacies, it seems children will not be able to be part of the digital age, which is nowadays an enormous part of society.

Overall, teachers should be aware of some of the dangers that Palmer (2004) outlines, as what happens in a child’s everyday life will have a profound affect on their school life. However, this does not mean that as teachers we should discourage the use of digital literacies in the classroom, as this will prevent children from participating fully in society (DfE, 2013).

Buckingham, D. (2004) The Media Literacy of Children and Young People: A Review of the Research Literature. London: Ofcom.

DfE (2013) The National Curriculum for England, England: Department for Education.

Palmer, S. (2006) Toxic Childhood, London: Orion Books.