Debates about children’s digital engagement is dominated by dichotomous discourses of digital risk, focusing on dangers to children particularly the most vulnerable (El Asam and Katz, 2018) and digital promise, which views digital technology as a force for positive change. Children are rarely directly consulted about how they use digital tools and what they see as the value of their digital experiences (Livingstone, 2014). This rigorous UK study took place with 34 Y5/10yr pupils in two schools in North East England (one rural, one urban multi-ethnic) and included a number of children with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities). Children were invited to take part as co-researchers in an individual activity-oriented interview. The activity involved placing a set of cards (apps, people, and emotions) on a game board representing their networks and interactions. Open-ended conversations explored children’s practices, purposes, experiences, contexts and values in relation to digitally mediated interactions. This research explored the following questions: • What do children value in their digital lives? • How do gender, dis/ability, cultural and social identities, and contexts, impact on children’s digital experiences? A mixed-methods approach was adopted with data collected of the activity in three ways: a video-recording children’s hands and conversation; still images taken of completed relational diagrams; and recorded conversations were transcribed. This research builds upon the Australian Research Council funded ‘How Do You Connect’ project investigates children’s digital lives to better understand and evidence how young children’s digital skills and how they build their social media networks (Neumann et al 2022). Discussions with the children evidenced how they use apps to stay connected with family and friends, locally and globally, often sharing fun and laughter; how gaming allows them to immerse themselves in, and create their own, digital worlds; how they use apps to direct their learning in hobbies and interests and how they ‘do school’ and ‘do family’. Children’s self-regulation and knowledge how to keep safe (Livingstone, 2014), and the relationship between their online and offline activity, was also evident. This research challenges a narrow conceptualisation of children including those with SEND as vulnerable, and a digital risk/digital promise binary. We find multi-layered ecologies (McHale et al 2009) in which children are embedded such that they are active in their own lives and the creation of their own identities. We discuss the importance of methods with children as co-researchers into their own lives rather than objects of study.

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