Helping Our Kids Navigate the Digital World
This article has been adapted with permission from Protecting Children’s Digital Wellbeing: A Review of Current Research from Defend Dignity
For many parents, managing screen time has become a familiar part of raising children. We set limits, remind our kids to put their phones away, and encourage them to spend time outside or connect with friends in person. But with social media, online games, video-sharing platforms and AI becoming part of everyday life, we must shift our focus to asking what their digital experience looks like. A recent article published in The Lancet, titled The public health challenges of children’s and adolescents’ digital media use: applying the digital determinants of health as an interpretive framework, helps us understand more about what our children experience when online.
What did the researchers find?
Across the studies, digital media use was associated with concerns involving mental health, behaviour, physical health, thinking and learning, and social relationships. The researchers also found that age and stage of development matter. The questions we need to ask about a young child using a tablet may be different from those we ask about a teenager using social media or interacting with strangers online.
However, an association does not automatically mean that one thing causes another. A child’s existing challenges, home environment, relationships and other circumstances can also influence how they use technology and how they feel.
Digital media can also provide meaningful benefits. Young people may use it to learn new skills, maintain friendships, find support and connect with communities they cannot easily access in person. The goal is not to remove these benefits, but to better understand when digital experiences support children and when they may put their well-being at risk.
Screen-time limits can be helpful, but the number of minutes a child spends online does not tell us everything about their experience.
Think about two teenagers who each spend two hours online. One might spend that time talking with friends, learning a new skill or watching videos about a hobby. The other might encounter relentless appearance comparisons, harmful content, cyberbullying or unwanted messages from someone trying to gain their trust. The time spent online is the same, but the experiences are very different.
The researchers argue that we need to pay more attention to what young people see and do online, how they interact with digital platforms, and whether their online experiences interfere with sleep, physical activity, relationships or everyday responsibilities.
This is especially important because digital platforms are not simply neutral spaces where children make independent choices. Many platforms use features such as personalised recommendations, notifications, endless scrolling and reward systems to encourage people to keep using them. These features can make it difficult to put a device down, even when a young person wants to stop.
For parents, this is an important reminder: when a child struggles to disconnect, the answer is not always to assume they lack self-control. The design of the technology may also be influencing their behaviour.
How does this connect to children’s safety?
At Defend Dignity, we know that prevention means understanding the conditions that can leave children vulnerable to harm. This research adds an important dimension to that conversation.
Children and teenagers are developing their understanding of relationships, boundaries, trust and their own sense of identity. Online spaces can influence all of these things. The content they see, the people they interact with and the messages they receive can shape what they come to believe about themselves and others.
Some online interactions are supportive and healthy. Others may involve pressure, manipulation, bullying or attempts to cross personal boundaries. Someone may use attention, compliments, shared interests or promises of friendship to build a connection with a young person. Over time, that connection can be used to pressure the child into doing things they are uncomfortable with or sharing information and images they don’t actually want to send.
Not every online risk leads to exploitation, and not every child who spends a lot of time online is vulnerable to it, but understanding how digital environments influence behaviour can help us recognize why prevention needs to begin before harm occurs.
Protecting children online is about more than checking which apps they use or setting a daily screen-time limit. It also means helping them recognize unhealthy behaviour, understand their boundaries, question what they see online and know where to turn when something does not feel right.
What can parents do?
The good news is that parents do not need to understand every new app or become technology experts to support their children. Small, ongoing conversations can help children build the skills they need to navigate the digital world.
Ask about the experience, not just the time.
Instead of focusing only on how long your child has been online, ask what they enjoy doing there, what kinds of videos they see, how people treat one another in the spaces they use and whether anything has made them uncomfortable. These conversations can help you understand your child’s digital world without making every discussion feel like an interrogation.
Keep conversations open and judgment-free.
Children need to know they can tell a trusted adult when something goes wrong online, even if they have broken a rule or made a decision they regret. If a child fears losing their device or being blamed, they may hesitate to ask for help. Responding calmly, listening first and working through the situation together can make it easier for them to speak up next time.
Teach healthy boundaries and warning signs.
Talk about what respectful online relationships look like. Children should know that they can say no, stop a conversation, block someone and ask for help. They should also understand that people online may not be who they claim to be, and that requests for secrecy, private images, personal information or contact that makes them uncomfortable deserve attention.
Protect the things children need offline.
Sleep, physical activity, time with friends and family, and opportunities to explore interests away from screens all matter. Family agreements about devices at bedtime, during meals or while spending time together can help protect these routines. The goal is not to create a perfect set of rules, but to make sure online activities are not consistently crowding into other important parts of life.
Be curious about how platforms work.
You can help children think critically about why certain videos appear in their feeds, why apps send notifications and how likes, streaks and recommendations can influence what people do. As AI tools and chatbots become more common, it is also worth discussing privacy, the limits of AI-generated advice and the importance of asking for help from trusted people when something serious happens.
Parents cannot do this alone.
One of the most important messages in the Lancet article is that responsibility for children’s digital well-being cannot rest entirely on individual families.
Parents can set boundaries, have conversations and help children build digital skills – but families cannot control every recommendation an algorithm makes, every advertisement a child sees or every design feature intended to keep users scrolling.
Prevention starts before something goes wrong.
The digital world is part of children’s lives, and that reality is unlikely to change. Our responsibility is to help young people benefit from technology while reducing the risks they face.
The research in The Lancet encourages us to move beyond a narrow focus on screen time and ask better questions about children’s digital experiences. Are they sleeping well? Do they feel safe and respected in their online relationships? Can they recognize pressure or manipulation? Do they have trusted adults they can turn to? Are the platforms they use designed with their well-being in mind?
These questions are not about expecting parents to get everything right. They are about creating opportunities for children to develop the confidence, knowledge and support they need to navigate an increasingly digital world.
At Defend Dignity, we believe prevention begins with education, healthy relationships and environments that support children’s safety. Keeping children safe online is not solely a family responsibility, and it cannot be solved by a screen-time setting alone. It requires informed parents, confident children, accountable platforms and policies that put children’s well-being first. Protecting children online is not just about how much time they spend on a screen. It is about the world they are exploring while on that screen.
Jen Singh, Executive Director of Defend Dignity, adds, "I believe in a Canada where sexual exploitation is no longer a part of our story. This is why I serve with Defend Dignity. For 16 years, Defend Dignity has been working toward its vision of ending all forms of sexual exploitation in Canada through its mission to mobilize Canadians to become involved in its awareness, aid, and advocacy work to prevent and respond to this injustice.
FAC has generously supported Defend Dignity since 2013, and in 2025 began a monthly partnership with us, contributing to the awareness, aid, and advocacy work that we do. Most recently, you provided a special offering to our Protect PCEPA initiative, which has been a huge blessing as we seek intervenor status in this important legal challenge.
You have always faithfully prayed for and financially supported Defend Dignity, and we are extremely grateful for your partnership!”
Does your heart beat fast for social justice? Are you curious what it looks like to join Jesus in this space? Explore how you can be a part of preventing sexual exploitation in Canada by learning more about Defend Dignity and how you can get involved.
