5 to 11: Keeping the Training Wheels on Tech

During your children’s elementary school years, surfing the web, doing homework online, DM’ing with friends, or keeping up with the latest video games, it starts looking like they are pretty grown up, right? Not so fast! You’re great at helping them navigate a host of new ideas and in-person interactions, but let’s not take off the training wheels on technology use quite yet.

On February 23, 2022, at 12pm, Children and Screens hosted the #AskTheExperts webinar “5 to 11: Keeping the Training Wheels on Tech,” a must-see primer on what you need to pay attention to and understand to help children mitigate risks and make the most of their digital lives at this critical stage in their development. How do you provide your children with space to grow and explore, while also protecting them online? What are the most important skills to teach your child as they begin to traverse the digital world? At what age is it okay to buy your child a cell phone? How much video gaming should you allow? How can you help them avoid tech addiction? We gathered a renowned interdisciplinary panel of researchers, authors, and clinicians to answer these and other burning questions. The experts grappled with all facets of children’s digital lives from gaming to learning, specific digital literacy skills that children need and problematic internet use. This important discussion exploring middle childhood was the second in our mini-series of #AskTheExperts webinars about screen use across ages and stages.