Excellence in Research: Establishing a Research Framework to Foster Digital Capital Among Adolescents for Safe and Secure Online Habitus

The continued proliferation of digital technology poses risks to children’s safety, privacy, and well-being. The development of new technology and virtual connections has created new “habitus” and “field” in children’s social life, which is transforming the dynamics of how they live by introducing new forms of capital. This project aims to respond to the growing risks to children's safety, privacy, and well-being posed by the ubiquitous digital technology and online interfaces. It intends to conceptualize children's digital capital and virtual connectivity through an interdisciplinary approach, employing social and behavioral perspectives intertwined with aspects of cybersecurity. Its focus is to explore how widespread digital connectivity can be approached through ways that enhance individual growth in digital age and contribute to building equitable societies. Framed from Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of “habitus” and Emile Durkheim’s theory of social solidarity, this project will construct a framework to understand the impacts of digital capital on children’s life and the effects of cybersecurity training in fostering children’s digital capital using primary interviews and format assessments. Specifically, the proposed study aims to: 1) identify the challenges and gaps for meaningful digital engagement among children; 2) examine the correlations between children’s digital capital, meaningful digital engagement, and perceptions of social solidarity in real life; and 3) explore effective countermeasures to advance children’s digital capital to benefit every child in an increasingly digitalized era. This study plans to use face-to-face interviews with a randomly selected sample of adolescents from the local community to ask about their socio-demographic background, access and skills for meaningful digital engagement, experiences of virtual connectivity, and how their online engagement is impacting their social life and perceptions of social solidarity. In addition, how to use current technology to foster children’s digital capital to maximize their virtual connectivity will be examined further with the evaluation of educational programs designed from a socio-cybersecurity perspective. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.