Guiding principles for stakeholder engagement in supporting children’s digital citizenship: the 4A model

This article outlines an evidence-based model of children’s digital citizenship stakeholder engagement, reporting the final outcome of a project conducted in the Asia Pacific region, titled Digital Safety and Citizenship Roundtables: Using Consultation and Creativity to Engage Stakeholders (Children, Policy Influencers, Industry) in Best Practice in India, South Korea, and Australia. This qualitative research positioned young children aged 3 to 13 years as key stakeholders in their digital citizenship development. Their views were communicated to adult stakeholders with an interest in digital citizenship policy and practice. The authors outline the 4A model, based on evidence collected from child and adult stakeholders, which offers a set of principles to guide stakeholders when they engage in children’s digital citizenship development. This article conveys how the authors have championed an innovative, child-centred, participatory research approach that facilitated the inclusion of children’s voices in the development of digital citizenship policy and practice.