Flipping the Reality of Young Children’s Technology Through the 4Cs: Create, Connect, Communicate, and Control

The advent of mobile touchscreen devices lowered barriers to enable young children to use computing devices. However, the new opportunities afforded by these devices have been eclipsed by its most common uses, which often involve unimaginative and isolating experiences, and sometimes include dark patterns that induce compulsive use and disregard privacy. To flip this reality, we build on the 3Cs approach to young children’s technologies (create, connect, and communicate), and propose a 4th C: control. We argue for more technologies to give children and caregivers control over their activities, time, data, and decision-making. In this book chapter, we provide a historical and child development perspective to motivate our approach, present its characteristics, illustrate it with examples, and discuss challenges and opportunities.