Themed edition: South American childhoods in the digital era

Abstract

The impact of digital technologies in children’ lives is a widely addressed topic in the recent literature on childhood in the global north. However, much less is known about the ways in which children in the global south interact in digital worlds. This themed edition of Global Studies of Childhood focuses on childhoods and digital technologies in a particular region of the global South: South America. Several issues make South America an interesting terrain to study the digital practices of children here. For example, the adoption of one to one technology policies in many of schools in South American countries in the last decade have meant that access by children to digital devices has increased. More importantly, the idea was advanced that children need technology thrive in their education and to learn new skills in order to fully participate in a networked society. This idea, in the context of neoliberal policies promoting consumption, alongside the lower costs of smart phones and other digital devices has resulted in millions of families investing in technology for their children, and this has established a relationship with technology from a very early age. Into these fast changing scenarios, scholarly production in South America has become increasingly focused on the study of children and their interaction with digital technologies in a variety of topics: from education to identity, from leisure to socialization, from a rights based approaches to information and participation, to concerns about the risks and potential harm of using digital technologies on a daily basis. Different perspectives and resources are being deployed to help us to understand the role of digital technologies in children’s lives, from digital ethnographies to classic surveys of use, from interviews to video and policy analysis. Each offer different insights to assist us to better understand children’ experiences as well as the social and technological landscapes they inhabit. This themed issue explores the variety of practices enacted by children, the contrasting viewpoints of adults and children regarding such practices, issues of risk and protection as well as the challenges that policy and digital education face to empower children to be critical users of technology as well as the steps necessary that we need to ensure are in place for them to get there. The studies presented here explore children’s relationship with digital technologies in different South