Global Challenges for the New (Digital) Childhood 信息時代全球兒童面臨的新挑戰

喬丹·夏皮羅

Take a moment to think about the discordant1 connections which now expose people to others in faraway places—satellite signals， fiber-optic2 cables， television and radio waves broadcast our differences to every corner of the globe.

In Philadelphia， I take sips from a big mug of morning coffee， the orange-yellow sunrise glaring-in through the window to the right of my desk. I’m video chatting with a friend in Sarajevo. For him， it’s lunchtime. He nibbles on “pita.” Not the flat-bread that my kids and I like to dip into hummus3， but a savory pastry4 pie that’s often called burek.

Information networks bring us together technologically. But the encoded signals sent back and forth do not facilitate an experience identical to being in the same place. Communication is quick and efficient， but the affective stimuli， which shape our moods and dispositions5—and provide the foundation for empathy—remain disjointed.

For us， it’s just a conversation. But look at the same phenomenon from a macro perspective—consider all the images， words， and stories that people now encounter. Worldwide， there are more than 4 billion internet users; each spends an average of 6 hours per day using devices which enable these oddly dissonant connections. Things can become so quickly entangled that it’s easy to imagine that the World Wide Web was spun by an apathetic spider. We have all metamorphosed6 into a global community， but we’ve yet to unravel all the potential intellectual， social， affective， and emotional knots.

The challenge becomes even more acute when it comes to education and childrearing. To live and thrive in this new world—to confront and adapt to its unique frictions and challenges—today’s kids will need to develop a capacity for connected thinking and macro-mindedness. These distinct cognitive and social-emotional skills are the prerequisite7 for understanding rapidly changing geopolitical climates， for making sense of a globalized economy， and for contributing to a worldwide community. Kids need to be tolerant of diversity， respectful of difference， but also alike enough to manage constant connection. Grownups need to teach them how to mediate the tension between preserving heterogeneous8 cultures and adopting homogeneous9 protocols10.

That’s why I wrote The Joan Ganz Cooney Center Guide to Digital Play for Global Citizens. I wanted to help adults prepare kids for a world that’s governed by new technological， economic， and geopolitical paradigms11. I wanted to introduce educators， youth development leaders， and parents to innovative tools which can help kids learn about， understand， and engage with our connected world. After all， academic knowledge and vocational skills are useless if they can’t be leveraged12 by collaborative， caring， compassionate， creative， and confident global citizens.

Divided into three parts， the guide introduces ready-to-use resources to 1） help kids build awareness of themselves and the world around them， 2） recognize and investigate the history， as well as the complex， systemic causes of contemporary issues ranging from economic inequality to global conflict to cultural diversity and inclusion， and 3） use digital play to explore the issues around climate change and the our relationship natural world.

But why a guide to digital play？ Because digital play is a great way to teach these lessons. While today’s children are playing online， they are also learning to be comfortable with a specific technological worldview. They’re developing the confidence to easily operate and experiment with networked tools. They are applying higher order13 thinking skills within virtual environments. They are also becoming acclimated14 to subtle social cues and nuanced15 behaviors. They’re procuring habits-of-mind for a connected world.

Child development and education experts are both always talking about how young people learn to make use of language， knowledge， and academic content through play， and within the context of lived experience. Although we often think of “context” as if it were some sort of abstract cultural or historical zeitgeist， the reality is much simpler. For humans， context is all about how we use specific sets of tools to intellectually， emotionally， economically， and materially fabricate16 our world. Digital tools are the new context.

From exploring boundaries， borders， and geography; to developing empathy and understanding of diversity; to developing a sense of curiosity and wonder about nature; this guide is meant to introduce practical， ready-to-use resources and techniques for using digital play to promote the breadth of skills required for true global citizenship.

花點兒時間想一想現有的那些雜亂的連接手段，它們可以把人們的生活展示給遠方親朋——衛星信號、光纜、電視和無線電波，把人們方方面面的不同傳播到地球的每一個角落。

在費城，太陽剛剛升起，橘黃色的陽光穿過窗戶落在桌子右側，我從大馬克杯里一口一口啜飲著早餐咖啡。我正在和一位薩拉熱窩的朋友視頻聊天。他那里是午餐時間，他正小口啃著他的皮塔餅——不是我和孩子們喜歡蘸鷹嘴豆泥吃的那種扁面包，而是一種咸味的油酥餡餅，通常叫作burek。

信息網絡從技術層面把我們聚在了一起。然而，來回傳輸的編碼信號并不會讓我們獲得和真正共處一地完全相同的體驗。交流變得快速而高效，但情感刺激仍然斷裂——正是那些刺激激發塑造了我們的情緒和性情，提供了同理心所需的基礎。

對我和朋友來說，這不過是一次普通的談話。但請從宏觀視角審視同樣的現象，思考人們現今面對的所有圖像、語言和故事。全球互聯網使用者超過40億，每人平均每天花6小時用各種設備建立此類古怪而雜亂的連接。各種事物會迅速糾纏在一起，不難讓人想象萬維網是一只冷漠的蜘蛛織就的。我們都已融入全球社區，但還沒有解開智力、社交、情感和情緒上潛在的所有結扣。

在教育和育兒領域，這一挑戰變得更為嚴峻。要在這個新世界生存和發展，面對并適應其中獨特的摩擦與挑戰，今天的孩子需要發展關聯思維和宏觀思維能力。想要理解瞬息萬變的地緣政治環境，理解全球化經濟，為人類共同體做出自己的貢獻，具備這些獨特的認知和社會情感技能是必要前提。孩子們不僅需要包容多樣、尊重差異，彼此間還需要有足夠的相似度去應對不斷建立的連接。成年人需要教會孩子如何在保護各種異質文化與傳承同質文化傳統之間維持平衡。

這就是我寫作《瓊·甘茨·庫尼中心全球公民數字游戲指南》的原因——我想幫助成年人為孩子做好準備去面對一個由新的技術、經濟和地緣政治模式所控制的世界;想給教育者、青年發展領導者和家長們介紹創造性的工具，這些工具能幫助孩子了解、理解并融入這個連接無處不在的世界。畢竟，孩子若不能成為善于合作、關心他人、有同情心、有創造力而又自信的全球公民，那他們掌握的學術知識和職業技能就毫無用處。

這一指南分三部分介紹了一些現成可用的資源，這些資源的作用如下：（1）幫助孩子建立自我意識及對他們所處環境的意識;（2）對于當下從經濟不平等到全球沖突乃至文化多樣性和文化融合等種種議題，了解并探究它們的歷史及其復雜的系統性成因;（3）利用數字游戲探索氣候變化及我們與自然界的關系等議題。

但為什么特別為數字游戲寫一本指南呢？因為數字游戲是教授這類課程的絕佳方式。今天的孩子在線上娛樂的同時，也在學著接受一種獨特的技術世界觀。他們在建立輕松操作和嘗試聯網工具的自信，在虛擬環境中應用高階思維技巧，還開始習慣于微妙的社交暗示和行為差異。他們將養成互聯世界所需的思維習慣。

兒童發展專家和教育專家都常常在談論，年輕人如何在真實生活背景下通過游戲學習使用語言、知識及學術內容。提到“背景”，我們常常以為是某種抽象的文化或歷史意義的時代精神，但實際簡單得多。如何使用一套套具體的工具從智力、情感、經濟和物質上建構我們的世界——對人類來說，背景就是與此相關的一切。現在，數字工具是新的背景。

從探索范圍、邊界和地理環境，到發展同理心和對多樣性的理解，再到培養好奇心和對自然的敬畏之心，這一指南旨在介紹一些實用、可用的資源和技術，使用數字游戲來拓展真正的全球公民所需要掌握的技能。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）