We aims to integrate the two themes of smartphone use (literacy) and children’s psychological development, proposing a new “framework of understanding” to support children. Furthermore, we intend to distill this framework into concrete knowledge and practical tips that are useful in the daily work of child welfare professionals, and share these insights.

From fiscal year 2020 to 2023, Lights On Children undertook initiatives such as mass donations of computers to child protection facilities and others in response to the COVID-19 emergency, as well as conducting “IT Security/Literacy Training for Staff in Social Care.”
Through these activities, we received various consultations from frontline staff supporting children regarding their ICT use, and we encountered many real-life examples of problems and countermeasures.

Among ICT, smartphones have become indispensable to our daily lives. We must also consider ensuring access to smartphones for children living in social care settings like child protection facilities.
To our knowledge, most high school students residing in child protection facilities own smartphones, and some facilities are now permitting junior high school students to have them as well.

While smartphones have become more accessible, the challenge of how to protect children’s safety has also grown.
Most facilities impose restrictions, such as using parental controls and setting rules for use, but these measures alone often seem insufficient.

We noticed that information literacy education for the safe use of smartphones and SNS, and the knowledge concerning children’s psychological support cultivated in fields like welfare and psychology, tend to be handled separately in practice.
We believe a significant challenge is that these two aspects are not integrated in the understanding of support workers (such as staff at child protection facilities), leading to a lack of an adequate framework for comprehension.

Therefore, this project aims to integrate the two themes of smartphone use (literacy) and children’s psychological development, proposing a new “framework of understanding” to support children.
Furthermore, we intend to distill this framework into concrete knowledge and practical tips that are useful in the daily work of child welfare professionals, and share these insights.

Through this project, we aim to contribute to creating a society where children can grow safely alongside smartphones.

* The subtitle for the project, “Watashi To Sumaho” (ワタシとスマホ), means “Self and Smartphone”.