There has been a tenfold increase in sexual abuse imagery created with webcams and other recording devices worldwide since 2019, according to the the Internet Watch Foundation. Social media sites and chatrooms are the most common methods used to facilitate contact with kids, and abuse occurs both online and offline. Increasingly, predators are using advances in technology to […] … learn more→

When the main character of a kids TV show can both listen and respond to viewers by using advances in artificial intelligence, youngsters learn more from the program. That’s what my colleagues and I found in a series of peer-reviewed studies. We are partnering with PBS Kids to incorporate conversational AI like Siri or Alexa into a popular science […] … learn more→

Most people think that empathy – or the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes – is an innate quality, but it’s not. We can learn it. Research has shown that reading can help children develop it , by allowing them to put themselves in situations very different from their own and reflect on those experiences. Another argument for teaching […] … learn more→

The progressive decline in birth rates in the world is accompanied by a fairly widespread feeling that it is increasingly difficult to raise and educate children. A study carried out with the Spanish population indicates that 8 out of 10 mothers and fathers feel to a greater or lesser extent guilty for not spending the time with […] … learn more→

Automation, once hidden behind closed doors in factories, is increasingly moving into public view. Customers can pay for groceries or clothing at a self-checkout machine, order fast food from a touchscreen kiosk or even pickup coffee from a “robo-café.” These technologies, which substitute human contact for robot-based interactions, are examples of self-service technologies — innovative public-facing automation […] … learn more→

How much time did your child spend looking at a screen today? The answer likely depends on how old they are, what grade they’re in at school and what rules you have in place at home about screen time. But the reality is that, for children and adolescents growing up as “digital natives”, it is […] … learn more→

Despite its indisputable importance in popular culture, the comic does not enjoy a similar status in the Spanish-speaking world as it does in other countries. Among other reasons, this may be due to the very origin of the modern comic in the daily press, much weaker than in the United States, and which linked the comic to […] … learn more→

Most people think that empathy – the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes – is fixed, but it’s not. Empathy can be taught. Research has shown that reading can help children develop empathy. Through reading, children can experience the situations of others that are very different to their own, and reflect on that experience. Further […] … learn more→

“I’m going down to play!” This is a phrase that many of us have often said during our childhood. Today, it is becoming rarer in the daily lives of families: according to some studies, children play less than before – an hour and a half a day – and they stop playing with classic toys earlier . From the age […] … learn more→

Digital tools now punctuate our daily lives. Smartphones, computers and social networks allow us to communicate instantly with people all over the world, to share information and experiences, to work remotely, to organize our personal and professional lives, and even to make romantic encounters. . However, this omnipresence can have negative effects on our social relationships. Indeed, when we use them in the […] … learn more→