Managing Expectations

Abstract

Extensive scholarship has investigated technology use among families. Existing work has focused primarily on parents' reactions to and restrictions of their children's technology use; here, we explore the underlying tensions surrounding technology use in the home. We draw on historical perspectives of adolescence and family life to better understand technology's impact on present-day parents and teens. Through an interview study with 18 parent-child pairs (19 parents; 23 children, ages 10-17), we find a number of technology tensions, including 1) parents' underestimation of children's technology use; 2) children's perception that parents only tell them which behaviors to avoid; 3) both parents' and children's poor adherence to household technology rules; and 4) parents' and children's desire for mutual attention. We argue that the use of personal devices introduces distinctive challenges into modern family life, due to the limited visibility (or practical obscurity) of personal device use, expectations of constant connectivity, and overly-romanticized notions of family time. We consider the historical evolution of both teenage and family life, and conclude that consistent and realistic expectations around work, attention, and adolescence may help families better manage household technology use.

Exploring Parents’ Security and Privacy Concerns and Practices

“…DISCUSSION Our findings reflect other studies regarding the variety of restrictions that parents place on their children's technology usage [5,8]. While not driven by security or privacy concerns, these do still serve to limit the exposure of children to digital threats.…”

“…For example, previous studies examined family communication regarding technology use and online risks, and found that parents underestimate the important role of technology in their teens' lives [5,13]. Teens view digital spaces as completely personal and private spaces [6], and parents and teens agree on the right of teens to have some privacy [7].…”

How Adolescents Use Text Messaging Through their High School Years

“…Despite these opportunities for text messaging to facilitate the development of autonomy from parents, there is also the potential for it to impair this developmental process if parents use texting as a way to drastically increase their oversight. In line with this, a few studies have found that the expectation of continuous contact is a source of conflict among adolescent–parent relationships (Blackwell, Gardiner, & Schoenebeck, ) and parents’ digital solicitations for information are less effective than in‐person soliciations (Hessel, He, & Dworkin, ). This suggests that although text messaging has the potential to promote autonomy, excessive parental contact via text might inhibit it.…”

Parent distraction with phones, reasons for use, and impacts on parenting and child outcomes: A review of the emerging research

“…There is work to suggest that parenting responsiveness and quality may suffer when attention is divided between phones and children. Anecdotally, parents believe they are better at focusing on their children when they intentionally put their phones away or do not use them during family time (Blackwell, Gardiner, & Schoenebeck, ; Radesky et al, ), and on average adults rate phone use as less appropriate when a child is present than when no child is present (Moser, Schoenebeck, & Reinecke, ). Experimental work also corroborates these anecdotes.…”