In our world today, we’re in a digital age; and we as parents and society need to raise children with digital empathy skills. The digital citizens of today are suffering from exposure to a lot of things online; such as social media, information, games, and so on; that is both good and bad for them, affecting who they grow to become in the future. Due to the pandemic that ravaged the world, lockdowns have been in-place where families are always indoors; this has allowed children more screentime, therefore more digital exposure than ever before.
Increased screentime can involve the use of educational tools and skills; but it also carries a lot of risks when unmonitored. When children go unmonitored while being on these digital platforms it affects them in many ways; one of which is their empathy skills.
Read Also [Let’s teach our Children Empathy]
Become An Online Hero
For Safer Internet Day, a superhero quiz was designed to educate children about online empathy and safety; it was developed by toy company Lego and think-tank DQ Institute. The game invites kids to “become an online hero” and asks players to respond to a series of situations; before revealing their online personality[WEForum].
At the end of the quiz, the game will reveal children to be one of four cyber superheroes; Sir Hug-A-Lot (personifying empathy), Butterclops (representing self-awareness), AeroVision (who acknowledges the perspectives of other people); and Admiral Highfive (a character who talks about being kind online)[WEForum].
This is an educational and fun way to promote empathy skills in our children, making them aware of those they interact with physically and online; and if any of their peers are going through a hard time, they can understand and communicate with them. This has to do with their overall growth to adulthood also. Parents don’t need to stop screentime, but rather substitute it with educative screentime, so children can learn as they play.
Play the educational, Become an Online Hero quiz HERE
