Children’s critical evaluation of parental mediation

Leslie Haddon

doi:10.5817/CP2015-1-2

Children’s critical evaluation of parental mediation

Vol.9,No.1(2015)
Special issue: Mediation of Children´s ICT Usage

Leslie Haddon

https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2015-1-2

How to Cite:

Haddon, L. (2015). Children’s critical evaluation of parental mediation. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 9(1), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2015-1-2

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Abstract

Although the new sociology of childhood draws attention to societal influences on children’s experiences, it also sees them as active agents. This article investigates children’s perspectives on parental interventions in regards their use of the internet, an aspect not covered in the parental mediation literature. Although children are generally positive about this mediation, here we explore cases where children consider it to be problematic through analysing the EU Kids Online qualitative research conducted in nine countries. The material shows how parental advice can sometimes be less articulated, justified, and expressed in a sensitive manner, and why it sometimes lacks credibility in children’s eyes. The article illustrates how maturing children can develop a sense of social expectations about independence, trust and personal social space. This can have a bearing on how they evaluate parental monitoring. Lastly, the article examines factors inhibiting children’s willingness to confide in parents about sensitive issues, because of potential parental responses, parenting styles, and a fear of losing parental trust that children have gained as they have grown older.

Keywords:
Parental mediation; children; internet; qualitative research; EU Kids Online; new sociology of childhood

Author biography

Leslie Haddon

Dr Leslie Haddon is a visiting lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics. His research over the past decades has in general focused on the social shaping and consumption of ICTs. From 2006-2014 he had been part of the coordinating team of the EU Kids Online project that examined online risks and children and he also participated in the Net Children Go Mobile project on children’s use of smartphones and tablets.

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