1. Introduction 2. Just a moral panic? 3. Intensive parenting culture 4. Screen harms 5. Good parenting vs the empty time of screens 6. The right kind of screen time 7. Producers of screen time discourse 8. The comfort and complexity of judging others 9. Conclusion: What to make of screen time discourse. Appendix: Research Methods
Biography
Kate Mannell is a Research Fellow at Deakin University in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child. Her research focuses on everyday digital media use, with a particular focus on families and youth, and how people manage challenging or unwanted elements of technology. She has recently published research in New Media & Society, Journal of Children and Media, and Social Media + Society and her research has been covered by media outlets including The Atlantic and The Guardian.
In her beautifully written book, Kate Mannell shows how the idea of screen time has become both the problem but also, seemingly, the “solution” for parents, researchers and the media, as they grapple with the mounting pressures of parenting in a digital age.
Prof. Sonia Livingstone, LSE and author of Parenting for a Digital Future: How hopes and fears about technology shape children’s lives.
This is a fascinating and timely book – Mannell expertly unpacks why we find it so hard to talk about tech use and raising children well, and why the discourse around ‘screen time’ can put so much pressure on parents. Essential reading for researchers, parents and policymakers alike.
Prof. Pete Etchells, Professor of Psychology and Science Communication, Bath Spa University and author of Unlocked: The Real Science of Screen Time (and How to Spend it Better).
Mannell’s book offers an acute and rigorous deconstruction of the screen time discourse, showing that if we aim to shift the conversation around children’s digital media use beyond moral panics and parental blame, we need to rethink the roles and responsibilities assigned to parents within contemporary intensive parenting culture.
Prof. Giovanna Mascheroni, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
A compelling and timely book that unpacks the discursive matrix of screen time embedded in contemporary parenting. Mannell examines key cultural tensions of technology use and offers constructive ways forward. Recommended to anyone interested in childhoods, the uncertainty of parenting and the stronghold these discourses have in our societies.
Prof. Ola Erstad, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Oslo
