Parenting Cyber-Risk Opportunities and Challenges Raising Children with Digital Environments

Contents

1. Introduction

Background and Context

References

2. Existing Research

Introduction

Technoparenting, Addiction and Mental Health

Parental Regulation of Digital Technologies: A Spectrum of Practices

Final Thoughts

References

3. COVID-19 Affects on Technoparenting and Children’s Mental Health and Well-being

Introduction

Rapid Change, Uncertainty and Impacts on Youth Mental Health and Well-Being

School Lockdowns and Digital Divides

Silver Linings: Promoting Positive Mental Well-Being during Lockdowns

Implications for Technoparenting  

Notes

References

4. Research Methodology

Background – Previous Research with Teens and Cyber-Risk

Recent Qualitative Approaches to "Cyber" Parenting

The Sample, Recruitment and Analysis

Grounding Our Data – A Note on Grounded Theory

Ethics and Positionality

References

5. Cyber-Addiction

Introduction

Comparisons with Illicit Drug Use and Withdrawal

Tweens, Teens, and Technology Burnout (For Parents)

The Social Lure of Screen Time

The Cultural Blind Spot: Parental Technology Addictions

Re-Focusing Our Concerns

Notes

References

6. Parenting Mediation of Technology Access and Use

Introduction

First Phones: Navigating Expense, Peer Exclusion and Gaining Independence

Parental Rules, Restrictions and Surveillance

Use of Tracking Technologies

Surveillance and Child Safety and Security

In Sum: Parenting Norms, Big Tech and Surveillance

Notes

References

7. Gendered Cyber-Risks

Navigating Cyber-Risks: The Role of Gender

Personality versus Gender

Boys and Girls: “Equal” Treatment for All?

The Gendered Double Standard

"Drama" and Related Emotional and Social Harms among Daughters

Sexting and the Permanence of Online Content

Parental Concerns: When She’s Older…

Summing Up: Implications for Parenting

Note

References

8. School Responses and Restorative Practices

Introduction

Managing Technology in the Classroom

Effective Responses to Online Conflict and Harm

Ineffective Responses to Online Conflict and Harm

Restorative Practices in Response to Online Conflict and Harm

Benefits of Restorative Practices

Difficulties Implementing Restorative Practices

A Calculus of Intervention Worthiness

Notes

References

9. Strategies

Introduction

Effective Strategies: Enacted with Children

          Digital Citizenship

Teaching Life Skills about Privacy and Permanency Online

Balance, Boundaries and Critical Media Awareness Skills

Effective Strategies: Enacted onto Children

          Chores and Physical Activities First

Ineffective Strategies

          Limiting Screen Time

Other Parents

Tech Removal as Punishment

The Last Resort: Device Distraction

Discussion

Notes

References

10. Conclusion

References

Appendix 1 – Participant Demographics

Appendix 2 – Interview Schedule

Index

Biography

Michael Adorjan is an associate professor at the University of Calgary. His research and teaching centers on youth and cyber-risk, drawing from theoretical areas including dramaturgy and social constructionism, surveillance and privacy. Recent publications examine both educator and parent understandings and responses to cyberbullying and other forms of online-mediated conflict and harm and restorative practices in response to cyber-risk. He also publishes on Hong Kong, especially responses to youth crime and public perceptions of police in Hong Kong, and with Rosemary Ricciardelli, is involved in research examining correctional officers in Canada.

Rosemary Ricciardelli is a professor (PhD) in the School of Maritime Studies and Research Chair in Safety, Security, and Wellness, at Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Fisheries and Marine Institute. Elected to the Royal Society of Canada, her research centers on evolving understandings of gender, vulnerabilities, risk and experiences and issues within different facets of the criminal justice system and among mariners. She has published vastly in the areas of public safety, criminalized persons and wellness – broadly defined. As a sex and gender researcher, her interests lay in the social health, identity construction and lived experiences of individuals.

'A welcome addition to the sociological literature on children, risk and online technologies, this book provides an in-depth and nuanced look at parents’ understandings, experiences and strategies as mediated by cultural expectations.  It will prove valuable to sociologists of technology, youth and family as well as to parents themselves whose voices have been largely absent from the literature on digital parenting.'

- Glenda Wall, Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Wilfrid Laurier University

 

'Adorjan and Ricciardelli bring needed clarity to the growing complexities and contradictions in technoparenting, set within the broader context of an increasingly algorithmic world. Parenting Cyber-Risk actively translates new research and the existing literature into sociologically-grounded guidance for schools and families, while pointing towards the need for future research. Emphasizing a holistic, restorative approach that resists dualistic notions of “online” and “real life,” “victim” and “cyberbully,” the authors work to address the lived risks and experiences of mediated families.'

- Nathan Fisk, Assistant Professor, Cyber-security Education, University of South Florida