Across Latin America, prohibitionist approaches to children’s and adolescents’ relationships with digital technologies are gaining ground, focusing primarily on risk prevention while neglecting evidence-based perspectives and children’s voices. A clear example is Brazil’s Law No. 15100, which restricts access to and usage of digital devices at public and private schools in the country due to concerns about the effects of physical and mental health media, reinforcing a mostly protectionist narrative. Such policies often overstate risks, such as exposure to harmful content or problematic digital behaviours, while failing to consider the diverse ways children and adolescents engage with technology, including learning, creativity, and socialisation. These approaches rely on partial evidence and rarely involve children and adolescents' experiences in policymaking, limiting their digital rights and agency.
Empirical evidence provides a more nuanced and rights-based approach to the phenomenon globally and in Latin America. Digital technologies are crucial in children and adolescents' well-being, socio-emotional development, learning, and socialising (Hollis, Livingstone & Sonuga-Barke, 2020; Ghai et al., 2022), offering benefits and potential risks. These outcomes are influenced by social, educational, and family factors, such as supervision, family communication, and establishing norms (Halpin et al., 2021). Positive outcomes include enhancing language skills, creativity, self-expression, and critical thinking (Kumpulainen et al., 2020), essential for full participation in modern society. Excessive use of technology can lead to adverse effects like deteriorating mental health (Godard & Holtzman, 2024), lower psychological well-being, and issues such as cyberbullying (Livingstone et al., 2015; Varela et al., 2022), impacting interpersonal relationships and academic performance (Masood et al., 2020).
Given the lack of evidence about children’s online experiences in Latin America, since 2015, a network of researchers, institutions, and public agencies from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Uruguay has been working to build this body of evidence. This network is currently very active and is presenting a panel that shows some of the latest outcomes from different countries in the region.
The first paper offers an overview of digital access, practices, and skills in the region, focusing on the impact of digital transformation on children and adolescents. Research from five Latin American countries shows that while most access is via mobile phones, it limits more complex digital activities. The article stresses the importance of digital skills, caregivers' and educators' roles, and suggests incorporating informal digital learning into formal education to support youth development.
The second presentation is a study situated in Chile. This study uses Kids Online Chile (2022) data to explore how family support and parental mediation shape children’s digital well-being. The findings indicate that family support is a protective factor, with active mediation reducing problematic behaviours, especially in video gaming. Gendered patterns emerge, with boys more likely to report issues with video games and girls with mobile phones. These results highlight the need for nuanced, localised approaches to digital parenting rather than simplistic bans or restrictions.
The third study, conducted in Costa Rica, examines factors influencing digital skills in children and adolescents (ages 9–17). It finds that active parental and teacher mediation, educational internet use, and classroom internet access enhance digital skills, while restrictive mediation limits them. Caregiver skills, self-efficacy, and socioeconomic status also impact digital competencies, revealing inequalities. Gender differences vary by age and skill type, highlighting the need for educational strategies that promote equitable digital literacy in family and school contexts
Based on ten years of ICT Kids Online Brazil research, the fourth study provides an overview of Internet access and usage among children in Brazil. It highlights the progress in connectivity for the 9 to 17-year-old population and the disparities in Internet access and device ownership among children from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The study will also present new data on Internet access, computer use, and mobile phone ownership among children aged 0 to 8 over the past decade. The Regional Center produces the indicators discussed for Studies on the Development of the Information Society (Cetic.br |NIC.br), a Regional Study Center under the auspices of UNESCO.
The study explores how Bolivian adolescents interact with online strangers. It finds that 44.08% have contacted strangers online, with older teens engaging more. 40.64% met someone in person they first met online, mostly male adolescents. While interactions with peers were mostly positive (85.71%), encounters with adults posed higher risks (10%). The study highlights the need for parental mediation that teaches risk assessment, recognizing suspicious behavior, and fostering safe online interactions, rather than just restrictive warnings.
In sum, the studies proposed for the panel aim to disrupt simplistic narratives about childhood and technology in Latin America, offering evidence-based insights that counter moral panic and highlight children’s agency, digital inequalities, and policy tensions. By centring Latin American perspectives within a Global South framework, we challenge dominant Western discourses and call for more inclusive, context-sensitive approaches to children’s digital rights and experiences.
