Children @ Play: Developing Skills, Community and Connection Online

Dr. Ameenuddin is the chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Communications and Media. She is also a pediatrician with extensive clinical experience in how communications and media impact children. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in the Division of Community Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. During routine well-child visits, Dr. Ameenuddin invests significant time in conversations with children, teens, and their parents about the safe and appropriate use of digital media. She answers their questions and counsels them as they make difficult decisions about how to set boundaries with their devices. She is also passionate about advocating for underserved populations and immigrant populations who face systemic barriers to realizing optimal health and achieving their full potential.

Dr. Richard Graham is a Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, and a former Clinical Director at the Tavistock Clinic. He is currently Clinical Lead for Good Thinking: London’s Digital Mental Well-being Service. (www.good-thinking.uk)

He has worked extensively in digital health, e-safety for the last decade and established the first Technology Addiction Service for Young People in the UK in 2010. In June 2016, he was appointed to the Executive Board of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS; the British Government’s principal advisory body for online safety and security for young people) and Co-Chairs the Digital Resilience Working Group.

He also works with the BBC, as Digital Well-being Consultant to the Own It App.

Laura Higgins is Director of Community Safety and Digital Civility at Roblox with more than two decades of experience building proven safeguarding, online safety and civility programs. Roblox’s groundbreaking digital civility initiative is focused on providing the community with the skills needed to create positive online experiences in partnership with the world’s leading safety and industry organizations that drive meaningful change. Civility online is a new concept that’s based on existing principles—that everybody has a part to play in making the digital world a better place. 

In her previous role with the UK Safer Internet Centre (part of the “Better Internet for Kids” project funded by the European Commission), Laura founded several award-winning services including the Professionals Online Safety Helpline and the world’s first helpline dedicated to supporting victims of image based abuse. Laura has worked with the biggest names in tech sitting on Twitter and Snapchat’s advisory boards. She has spoken on digital safety topics across the globe and regularly appears in the media sharing her expertise with industry experts, parents and kids.

Rukayah is a public policy professional with ten years of experience advocating on child rights in domestic, development and humanitarian contexts. Currently at the LEGO Group, she focuses on education reform and engages governments and other public institutions on the transformative role learning-through-play has on children’s education and development.