In the context of the rapid digital transformation of everyday life, children and adolescents spend more and more time in front of digital screens. A natural question arises: how does this affect their development and what should digital content be like so as not only not to harm, but also to promote the cognitive, emotional and social well-being of the younger generation? These and other pressing issues became the subject of discussion at the International Forum "Child in the Digital World", which brought together experts from more than 50 countries.
Juliana Slashcheva, General Director of the Gorky Film Studio, noted that the world has changed dramatically, and these changes are happening all the time — new trends in content consumption appear every six months. However, high-quality content remains a key factor in a child's harmonious development. A study conducted under her leadership showed that children consume media content for an average of 4 hours a day. According to the expert, the priority is to form a stable habit of watching long, plot—complete stories - films and TV series that can become the basis for family leisure and dialogue between adults and children.
A comparative study by Dmitry Kornienko (Federal Scientific Center for Psychological and Interdisciplinary Research, Russia) and Jorge Enrique Torralbas Osle (University of Havana, Cuba) revealed interesting differences in the digital behavior of teenagers. Russian teenagers more often consume entertainment formats, demonstrating signs of “screen overload”: decreased concentration, sleep disturbances, and decreased motivation to study. While Cubans gravitate toward educational and social content, they face problems with family communication and a decrease in the quality of live communication.
The forum paid special attention to the principles of digital content development. Evren Yigit, an expert in children's media and co-founder of the KidsAI and Mako Kids projects, emphasized that digital technologies should not replace children's creativity, but rather serve as its catalyst. In her opinion, the development of digital content should begin with questions: what will this teach the child, how will it affect their sense of self, will they feel heard and understood.
Yigit presented the key principles of high-quality digital content for children: scientific validity (based on developmental data), safety and inclusiveness, cultural and linguistic sensitivity, development of self-expression and critical thinking. International data show that the future of digital childhood does not depend on abandoning technology, but on a wise choice in favor of high-quality, meaningful and developmental content that supports the emotional health, thinking and social engagement of the child.
The formation of such digital environments requires cooperation between educators, psychologists, parents, media experts and technology developers. In the era of digital transformation, it becomes obvious: the digital environment is not a threat, but a tool that, with the right approach, can become a powerful resource for the development of the younger generation. The main task of modern specialists is to fill it with content that helps children grow up as harmonious, inquisitive and emotionally stable individuals.