Young People’s Conceptions and Practices of Safety in Online Environments

An Examination of Challenges, Theoretical Perspectives, Current Research, Findings, and Potential Instructional Interventions

Abstract

This ongoing research builds on investigations undertaken by Medina & Todd (2016, 2017) that focus on children’s safety in online environments.  As part of scholarly traditions centering on information and digital literacy, an emerging discourse and arena of research and service development is centering on the concept of digital wellbeing.   Digital wellbeing is defined as the capacity of individuals to look after personal health, safety, relationships and work-life balance in digital settings.  This paper, focusing on the specific aspect of digital safety as one dimension of digital wellbeing, presents an examination current challenges, theoretical perspectives and approaches to research, methods and potential instructional interventions in relation to children’s conceptions and practices of safety in online environments. It will present current findings and provide perspectives on moving forward with the research agenda.