Viviana Quintero Quiroga

Thinking About Contemporary Childhood Through Technology

Viviana Quintero Quiroga did not enter the world of digital parenting with a plan in mind. She arrived there through intuition, curiosity, and a series of coincidences that eventually became a vocation. She was studying Psychology in Colombia when she began working at Red PaPaz, an organization dedicated to protecting the rights of children and adolescents. There, almost without intending to, she found herself drawn into a field that was only beginning to emerge at the time: the relationship between technology and childhood.

Ironically, she never considered herself especially “techy.” She often says that technology was far from her favorite subject at school. But something strange happened in the office: whenever she showed up, the devices suddenly worked. That small office myth opened the door to conversations, projects, and working groups alongside leading figures from technology companies and specialists in digital education. As she puts it herself, she learned “standing on the shoulders of giants.” And she never left that world behind. Today, she continues to explore how technology is reshaping childhood, family life, and the ways adults accompany children as they grow.

Quintero has spent years working on the prevention of digital violence, digital citizenship, and child wellbeing in connected environments. She has advised organizations such as UNICEF, USAID, Red PaPaz, and the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, while also collaborating with Universidad de los Andes on research related to online child sexual exploitation and AI-based mitigation strategies.

She currently works as an independent consultant and technical advisor on projects focused on child protection, school coexistence, and digital risks. She also works closely with schools, families, and educators on one of the defining challenges of our time: learning how to live with technology without allowing technology alone to decide how children grow up.