Our study showed that educators are focusing on individual digital capabilities which has caused the loss of chances to open up conversations on eSafety with students in the daily teaching and learning practices. This is particularly when digital technologies are a part of students’ life in today’s world. For the educators who have tried, it […]
Changing Technology Usage Patterns
Our study found that in adolescence, children shifted from using technology under the supervision and/or approval of their parents to more independent use. While a newfound sense of confidence is sometimes attached to children moving into this more independent use of technology. The ways children’s technology use changed closely aligned with what is important to […]
Children’s readiness to use social media
Many of the parents in the study discussed the idea of a child being ‘ready’ for social media. This often was not based on evidence and instead often coincided with significant moments such as birthdays or entering a new year level at school. These significant moments appear to be similar to popular articles in the […]
Transitioning to high school, phone ownership, and your teenager
Our research focused on the 10 – 13-year-old age group, making a transition from primary to high school and becoming more independent with their device use. Specifically, we feel that this 10-13 years age group is significant as children transition from child-user of technology to more independent and autonomous user. Our study found that three […]
Dealing with Societal Pressures
Our research found that parents would compare their own approach to the approach taken by other parents. This would mean that parents would feel pressured in what they did with their child’s use of digital technologies, based on what other parents were doing. Often this would relate to how strict or lenient parents were with […]
Managing Screentime
Our research found that using devices had transcended them being used on special occasions and/or as a reward, and more a part of each and every day. Importantly, parents would often position screentime alongside another event, such as using their device to complete homework or using their device to engage in physical activity. Many parents […]
Should Parents and Grandparents Have the Same Digital Safety Rules?
Grandparents were mostly aware of any specific rules around technology use already put in place for their grandchildren. We found that grandparents would either attempt to follow the same digital safety approach taken by the child’s parent. Many grandparents also often had their own digital safety rules when looking after their grandchildren, sometimes meaning that […]
Different Parenting Styles on Digital Platforms
Whilst everybody’s approach to mediating their child’s technology use is different, our research found that parents often fell into specific gendered roles, and that whilst this could sometimes cause conflict in some families, in other families it also allowed for parents to play to their strengths. In our findings, some parents admitted that it was […]
Focusing on eSafety not eCapabilities
Some grandparents were bothered by their limited digital capabilities or were sceptical to talk about the presence of digital technologies in today’s life. However, this does not stop them from being concerned about the grandchildren’s digital technologies behaviours when looking after them. Our research discovers that grandparents have limited understanding of eSafety due to their […]
Setting rules for technology use outside the family home
Our research found that grandparents aimed to mostly follow the rules children had at home regarding technology yet found it difficult to apply those rules 100%. Grandparents performed a range of different roles. The element of being ‘one step removed’ meant that grandparents would either attempt to emulate the approach taken by their own child, […]