Books Technology's Child: Digital Media’s Role in the Ages and Stages of Growing Up by Katie Davis (Author)

"Technology's Child: Digital Media’s Role in the Ages and Stages of Growing Up" by Katie Davis explores how digital media and technology affect child development from toddlerhood through early adulthood. Drawing on her expertise in developmental science and design research, Davis shows that technology profoundly shapes children’s learning, social connections, identity formation, and mental health.

The book highlights that technology supports healthy development when the experience is self-directed—initiated, sustained, and ended voluntarily—and occurs within a community-supported context. Davis emphasizes that children’s engagement with technology is complicated by individual traits and social-cultural environments, requiring nuanced approaches for parents, educators, and designers.

Key developmental stages covered include early childhood (focusing on self-control and literacy), tweens (a time of transitions and new social challenges), and adolescence (identity exploration with technology intertwined). Davis criticizes tech designs driven by profit rather than child well-being and advocates for designs informed by human development theory.