Education in the Digital Age: Healthy and Happy Children

Table of contents
Foreword 3
Acknowledgements 4
Executive Summary 9
Part I Setting the stage: Who are 21st century children and how are they
shaped by the digital age? 11
1 Healthy and happy children in the digital age 12
A snapshot in time 13
Four themes 14
Special focus: Physical health and digital technologies 17
Overview of the volume 18
Concluding note 20
References 21
Note 22
2 Physical health trends in childhood 23
Introduction 24
Physical health and well-being trends and patterns 24
Factors affecting child health and health behaviours 27
Effective interventions for health 29
Knowledge gaps and research limitations 30
High priority challenges in OECD countries and systems 30
In sum 32
References 33
Note 37
3 Children and digital technologies: Trends and outcomes 38
Introduction 39
Trends in children’s use of digital technologies 39
Digital technology use and children’s physical health 43
Areas for further research 44
Developing successful policy solutions 44
In sum 45
References 47
6 
EDUCATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE: HEALTHY AND HAPPY CHILDREN © OECD 2020
Part II Play! 52
4 Outdoor risky play 53
Background 54
Outdoor risky play 54
Creating supportive outdoor risky play environments 57
In sum 61
References 62
5 Digital media and cognitive development 69
The dilemma: implications of the increase in digital technology consumption 70
Which evidence-based recommendations? 70
How to advance the scientific debate around digital media effects 71
Cognitive effects of action video game play and media multitasking 72
The need for balanced research and standardised definitions 74
Conclusion and future directions 75
References 76
6 Play and learning in the digital age 81
Introduction 82
Philosophical and practical definitions, uses and activities 83
The gamification of play 86
What is at stake in the playification of learning? 88
Coda: From a political economy of play and learning to the everyday 91
Summary and implications 92
References 93
Part III The pursuit of perfection 97
7 Media and body image in children and adolescents 98
Body image among children and adolescents 99
Body image: Development and characteristics among children and adolescents 100
Theoretical frameworks 101
Media content 101
Empirical evidence for the relationship between media and body image among children and
adolescents 103
Moderators of the relationship between media use and body image 104
Explanatory mechanisms 106
Conclusions 107
References 107
8 Cognitive enhancement in children by using prescription drugs 113
Introduction 114
What is pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement and does it work? 114
What is the controversy about pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement? 115
What is known about the prevalence of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement? 117
What is known about attitudes and factors affecting pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement? 118
What are potential strategies to decrease risky use of pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement? 120
What are the gaps and future directions for research on pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement
in children? 122
 7
EDUCATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE: HEALTHY AND HAPPY CHILDREN © OECD 2020
Conclusion 123
References 124
9 The myth of the digital native: Why it persists and the harm it inflicts 131
Overview 132
Digital natives vs. digital immigrants 132
Debunking the myth 133
The risks of the digital native discourse 134
Why the discourse persists 137
A future agenda 138
Conclusion 140
References 140
Part IV Policies, practices, partnerships and the pending agenda 144
10 Child empowerment, well-being and inequality 145
Introduction 146
Knowledge as power: Educating children for their health and well-being 146
Striving for equity: Reducing health and digital inequalities for all children 152
In sum 160
References 160
Note 165
11 Education and child safety 166
Introduction 167
Making spaces safe for kids 167
Violence, bullying and abuse 171
Teachers’ responsibility for student well-being 176
In sum 179
References 180
12 Building capacity: Teacher education and partnerships 185
Introduction 186
Supporting teachers for modern classrooms 187
Policies and practices to support teachers 190
Cross-sectoral collaboration and partnerships 193
In sum: Working together towards a changing landscape of education 198
References 199
13 The pending agenda 203
Introduction 204
Emerging cross-cutting themes 204
Policy orientations and gaps in our knowledge 207
Concluding note 211
References 212
Contributors 213