• Rapid proliferation of information, communications and technology (ICT) is shaping everyday life.
• Digital technology and innovation can open a door to a better future especially for children living in remote locations, or those held back by poverty and exclusion. For example, ICTs are bringing education to children in remote parts of Brazil and Cameroon and to girls in Afghanistan who cannot leave their
• homes. ICTs are also enabling child bloggers and reporters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to advocate for their rights.
• It can provide better access to learning, communities of interest, markets and services, and other benefits that can help them fulfill their potential, thus in turn breaking cycles of disadvantage.
• For instance, when computer was installed in a Delhi slum, significant improvements were witnessed in the lives of disadvantaged children such as better performance in school examinations, better problem solving skills etc.
• However, in India, most of the children do not enjoy full-fledged access to digital technology, thus creating a state of digital divide. This only compounds their deprivation, effectively denying them the skills and knowledge that could help them fulfill their potential and helping break intergenerational cycles
• of disadvantage and poverty.
• Further, digital technology poses significant risks to children’s safety, privacy and well-being. It magnifies threats on children, eventually making them even more vulnerable.

It acts as a divisive force in the following ways:

1. ICT has it made it easier to produce, distribute and share sexually explicit material and other illegal content that exploits and abuses children. Poor digital literacy and awareness makes low income group children more vulnerable to these abuses including trafficking.
2. Distribution of hate speech and other negative content shape children?s world view.
3. Group comparison studies show that low-income-no-internet children report significantly lower scores on all dimensions of digital literacy, academic performance, aspirations, perceived efficacy, self-esteem, family and peer relationships.
4. Digitalization exposes children to new gadgets and lifestyle. Poor parents often fail to make them available to children. This produces dissatisfaction and anger in children. It may lead to psychological and behavioral problems including juvenile delinquency.
5. Digital dependency, and „screen addiction? among children also alienates them from their culture.

In this digital era, following measures can help to bridge digital divide and ensure safety of children:

1. Digital literacy to keep children informed and safe online.
2. Provide all children with affordable access to high-quality online resources.
3. Prevent misuse of children?s data and respect its encryption; enforcing the application of international ethical standards and practices in collecting and using data about children online.
4. Develop regulatory frameworks that recognize the distinct needs of children and strengthen the coordination and knowledge sharing at the global level.
5. Faster action focused investment and greater cooperation is needed to protect children from the ills of a more connected world.

If leveraged in the right way, digital technology can be a game changer for children who are lagging behind due to social disabilities posed by poverty, race, ethnicity, gender, disability, displacement or geographic isolation. It can help connect them to a world of new opportunities and provide them with market oriented skills to maximize the benefits of life in the digital world.