Preschoolers Taught Digital Privacy in Türkiye Turned Privacy Teachers for Their Moms

When a four-year-old tells her mother not to post photos of her on Instagram because there are bad people online, something unusual is happening in the science of digital socialization. A new study from Türkiye suggests that preschool children, long treated as passive recipients of parental guidance about technology, can become active participants in family conversations about digital privacy—and in some cases, they can even prompt their mothers to rethink their own online habits. The research, published in Discover Education, offers one of the first structured attempts to teach digital privacy as an educational topic in its own right during the preschool years, rather than as a footnote to broader digital literacy or online safety.

The study, led by Yusuf Keskin, Sevgi Coşkun Keskin, and Esma Budak of Sakarya University, involved 19 preschool children aged 48 to 72 months and their mothers, all recruited from a private school in the Maltepe district of Istanbul. Over four weeks, the children participated in a series of classroom activities designed around play, drama, guided discussion, and visual materials, each lasting roughly 20 to 30 minutes and woven into their regular preschool routine. The activities addressed digital boundaries, personal data awareness, content evaluation, and responsible digital decision-making. Alongside the classroom component, mothers received a family participation activity and an informational letter offering practical guidance on digital sharing, content selection, and personal data protection. All 19 children completed every classroom activity, and all 19 mothers completed the family component and both rounds of interviews, with no participants withdrawing.

Before and immediately after the intervention, researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with both children and mothers. Child interviews lasted about 10 to 15 minutes each, conducted individually in a quiet room familiar to the children, with questions phrased in age-appropriate language. Because of the children’s developmental stage, these interviews were not audio-recorded; instead, the researcher documented responses in writing using structured forms, reviewing them immediately afterward to verify completeness and minimize recall bias. Mother interviews, lasting 20 to 30 minutes, were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The research team then applied qualitative content analysis, coding the transcripts inductively before organizing categories into broader themes aligned with the study’s research questions. Roughly one-quarter of the transcripts were independently coded by a second researcher, and the team refined the coding framework through discussion until consensus was reached, using MAXQDA Analytics Pro 2022 to manage the coded segments.

The technical findings reveal a shift in how children conceptualized digital privacy itself. Before the intervention, children’s responses were dominated by a lack of knowledge—digital privacy was largely an unfamiliar abstraction. Afterward, references to privacy violations through digital devices became considerably more frequent, while expressions of limited knowledge declined markedly. One child, identified as C11, initially described digital privacy as very difficult but later explained that the computer and phone camera can see our footprints. Though phrased in child-appropriate language, the statement suggests an emerging recognition that digital activities leave traces and that connected technologies can collect or reveal personal information. References to screen addiction also increased slightly, indicating that some children began associating digital privacy with broader ideas about self-regulation and responsible behavior.

Children’s strategies for evaluating digital content became more structured as well. Before the intervention, responses frequently reflected uncertainty and limited recognition of digital risks, with high frequencies for ignoring content risks and expressions of surprise, fear, or confusion. Afterward, children more often mentioned checking age ratings, recognizing violent or explicit material, and closing or avoiding unsuitable content. Participant C5, who initially reported simply asking her mother when encountering inappropriate material, later described a more self-directed response, explaining that she closes it and referring to age-appropriateness indicators encountered while selecting content. The researchers note that the reduced frequency of seeking family support should not be read as a diminished role for mothers; rather, some children appeared to be applying strategies previously discussed or modeled within family interactions when making their own decisions.

Perhaps the most striking technical development concerned personal data awareness. Before the intervention, most children’s responses reflected limited familiarity with the concept. Afterward, references demonstrating awareness of personal information became considerably more frequent. Participant C3, who initially reported no familiarity with personal data, later identified examples including address, ID number, credit card number, and password. The researchers interpret these responses as reflecting an emerging recognition of personal information within everyday digital experiences rather than a sophisticated understanding of digital surveillance or data processing. Importantly, several children continued to express uncertainty even after the program, suggesting that understanding of personal data protection develops gradually during early childhood and may require continued educational reinforcement rather than arriving as a single lesson.

Mothers’ accounts revealed a parallel but distinct pattern of reported change. Before the intervention, their descriptions of digital privacy primarily emphasized limiting children’s exposure to inappropriate content. Afterward, their accounts increasingly incorporated considerations of digital sharing, responsible technology use, and everyday family practices. Participant M13 initially acknowledged limited supervision, saying she could not say she paid attention to every video and was not able to restrict it. Following the intervention, she described a more active evaluative approach, noting that she pays attention to the content they watch and that sometimes they close it even before she warns them. References to careful or restricted sharing of children’s digital content became substantially more frequent, while reliance on trust-based sharing within close social circles and authority-based decision-making appeared less often. Several mothers also reported greater attention to password use, protecting personal information, and avoiding unnecessary storage of personal data on devices.

One mother, M14, described how her children questioned her social media habits after the program. She used to post their photos on Instagram, she explained, and both of her sons said together, Mom, don’t post them—it’s not good, because there are bad people. Another mother, M16, reported that she did not know she needed to check certain criteria when downloading games. The researchers emphasize that these accounts do not demonstrate that children consistently influenced parental behavior across all participating families; rather, they illustrate interactional patterns observed in a subset of the qualitative data, in which conversations initiated during the educational activities were reflected in everyday family life. In several families, children’s emerging awareness appeared to encourage mothers to reconsider aspects of their own digital privacy practices, suggesting patterns consistent with reciprocal learning within family contexts.

Building on these findings, the study proposes the Reciprocal Digital Privacy Learning Model as a tentative interpretive framework grounded in participants’ reported experiences. The model illustrates a reciprocal process in which developmentally appropriate digital privacy education encourages children’s emerging awareness of digital privacy, personal data, content evaluation, and responsible digital behavior, while simultaneously creating opportunities for reflection within family interactions. As children begin to apply and discuss these understandings in everyday situations, mothers may reconsider aspects of their own digital sharing, content mediation, and personal data protection. These evolving interactions may, in turn, reinforce children’s developing understandings through ongoing family communication. Rather than representing a linear sequence of effects, the model conceptualizes digital privacy learning as a dynamic and reciprocal process in which children and mothers jointly contribute to the continuing negotiation of digital privacy practices within family life. The researchers stress that the model complements rather than replaces established theories of parental mediation, extending the traditional parent-to-child view of digital socialization by recognizing young children as active participants who may contribute to family discussions.

The study’s limitations are significant and carefully acknowledged. The research was conducted with a small group from a single private preschool in Türkiye, and the findings should be interpreted within that specific educational and socio-cultural context rather than generalized to public educational settings or families with diverse socioeconomic characteristics. Because no longitudinal follow-up was conducted, it remains unclear whether the reported developments would persist over time. The single-group pre-post design also means the reported changes cannot be attributed to the intervention alone; children’s ongoing developmental maturation, repeated participation in interviews, increased familiarity with the interview process, social desirability, and demand characteristics may all have influenced responses. As no independent observational triangulation was conducted, the extent to which reported changes reflected participants’ experiences rather than expectations associated with the research context cannot be fully determined. Future research involving larger and more diverse samples, longitudinal designs, and different educational settings will be needed to examine the transferability and broader educational relevance of these interactional patterns. Still, the study suggests that digital privacy education can be meaningfully introduced during the preschool years through developmentally appropriate, play-based, and family-supported experiences—and that families, not just classrooms, may be essential partners in shaping how the youngest digital citizens learn to protect their boundaries online.

Subject of Research: Digital privacy socialization in early childhood through a qualitative intervention study in Türkiye

Article Title: Digital privacy socialization in early childhood through a qualitative intervention study in Türkiye

Article References: Keskin, Y., Keskin, S. C., & Budak, E. (2026). Digital privacy socialization in early childhood through a qualitative intervention study in Türkiye. Discover Education, 5(1), Article 829. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-026-02082-9

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s44217-026-02082-9

Keywords: digital privacy, early childhood education, parental mediation, digital literacy, educational technology, Türkiye, qualitative research, sharenting, Digital, privacy, socialization, early