Addressing the digital skills gap for fu

　　The COVID-19 pandemic has caused rushed digitalization of primary and secondary (K12*) student education, and cyber-risks such as bullying, technology addiction, and misinformation must be addressed. There is an urgent need to coordinate global eforts for digital skills education and training, which can help students succeed in the digital age while curbing risks and inequality.

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　　*K–12, primary and secondary education in the United States, Canada, and Australia

　　The digital world is an indelible part of modern life. For many people, it is the world where we communicate, learn, shop, and entertain ourselves. The digital world has transformative power to connect people across the world.

　　Nonetheless, the digital world has many challenges. It is associated with a wide range of cyber-threats such as hacking, bullying, identity theft, human trafficking, technology addiction, and privacy invasion, while gaming disorder has been recognized as a medical condition by the World Health Organization (WHO).

　　The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the widespread digitalization of numerous sectors that were unprepared. One of the most affected groups has been K12 students, many of whom have been forced to switch to online schooling. The rapid transition has been challenging and compounded by issues such as limited digital skills, technology access, inequality, and systemic racism.

　　We urgently need a globally coordinated response to help students acquire digital skills, which are needed to keep pace with this fast-changing landscape. It is especially important to cultivate digital citizenship along with a broader set of digital skills that can facilitate participation and support students in maximizing opportunities and minimizing risks in the digital world.

　　Cyber-risk impacts

　　The impact of the digital world on students began long before the COVID-19 pandemic. The digital world has brought tremendous benefits, but the rate of digital technology advances is far greater than the speed at which we have adapted in terms of education, policies, and culture.

　　This mismatch has allowed cyber-risks to proliferate among children who are left exposed without adequate preparation or safeguards. To understand the prevalence of cyber-risks worldwide, our team conducted a survey of over 145,000 children and adolescents across 30 countries. The participants were asked questions about their personal experiences with different types of cyber-risks and evaluation metrics were developed based on the frequency of exposure.

　　Among the survey results, it was found that 60% of 8- to 12-year-old children were exposed to cyber-risks such as cyberbullying, gaming disorder, sexual grooming, and violence (Fig. 1a). Notably, 45% of children online were affected by cyberbullying, 39% experienced reputational risks, 29% were exposed to violent and sexual content, 28% experienced cyber threats, 17% had risky contacts such as an offline meeting with strangers or sexual contact, 13% were at risk of a gaming disorder, and 7% were at risk of a social media disorder.

　　The results also showed that countries varied greatly in critical aspects of digital safety and infrastructure (Fig. 1b). East Asian and Western countries tended to rank higher for child online safety. East Asian countries also tended to score high on cyber-risk prevention, disciplined digital use, digital citizenship*, and digital connectivity. On the other hand, Western countries tended to have strong social infrastructure, guidance, and education. These data highlight that nations in all regions of the world have room for improvement and could learn from each other’s best practices——an issue which has gained heightened attention due to COVID-19.

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　　*digital citizenship：thinking critically, behaving safely, and participating responsibly in the digital world