Implications of the family expert role for parental rules regarding adolescent use of social technologies

We conducted individual semi-structured qualitative interviews with a diverse group of 40 adolescents to assess their perceptions related to (a) the location of expert power within their families with respect to social technology use (cell phones and social networking sites) and (b) the implications of such power for parental rule setting and enforcement related to adolescent use of these technologies. Results indicated substantial variability in who adolescents perceived to be the family experts. Rules regarding access to social technologies existed in most families regardless of the technology type and regardless of whether parents or youth were perceived as technology experts. In contrast, family expert status had implications for the types of content rules that parents set regarding adolescents’ use of social technologies and the manner in which such rules were enforced

Maternal Authority Regarding Early Adolescents’ Social Technology Use

Use of social technologies (e.g., cellular telephones, social networking sites) is highly prevalent among American adolescents, in some cases outpacing that of adults (Nielsen Company). Rapid cultural change such as that represented by technological advances comes with the potential to diminish elders’ authority over youth. We analyzed qualitative interviews with 20 African American and European American mother–early adolescent dyads to consider ways in which mothers would—or would not—exert authority over adolescents’ use of social technologies. Three distinct approaches emerged: abdication/loss of authority, conflicted authority, and retained authority. Mothers’ use of these different approaches varied based on factors that included mothers’ and adolescents’ expertise regarding the technology being used, mothers’ perceptions of risks associated with particular technologies, and mothers’ and adolescents’ beliefs and experiences with respect to social technology use

Being a good external prefrontal lobe:Parenting teenage brains

Knowledge of adolescent brain development is increasingly being used by pedagogues, family coaches, and other parenting professionals to tell parents what to do with their teenage children. The promise is that knowledge of the teenage brain not only explains "typical" adolescent behavior, but also provides an answer to the timely question of how to be a good parent. This chapter explores how the popular notion of the teenage brain is made valuable in Dutch parenting discourse to address concerns and ideals of good parenting-in short, questions of ethics. Instead of providing an inconclusive answer, parenting experts mobilize the teenage brain to reconcile different and sometimes conflicting parental norms, resulting in two distinct moral repertoires of parenting as "external frontal lobe." The case of the teenage brain as parenting advice indicates the constitutive role norms, values, and ideas of the good play in the diffusion of neuroscience knowledge into society

Policing Cyber Bullying: How Parents, Educators, and Law Enforcement Respond to Digital Harassment

Some prior research has emphasised how adults ought to address cyber bullying, yet little is known about how they actually prevent and respond to digital harassment. This study addresses this gap in the literature by exploring the formal and informal “policing” of cyber bullying by a network of security actors: parents, teachers and school administrators, and the public police. Data were collected through a mixed methods research design consisting of semi-structured qualitative interviews with eight parents, 14 teachers, and 12 members of law enforcement (n = 34) and quantitative surveys completed by 52 parents. Drawing upon nodal governance theory as a guiding framework, the results of this study suggest that parents are the central figure in the cyber bullying security network, calling upon school officials and members of law enforcement when required. The relationship between parents and school officials and the police is strained and characterised by conflict. Conversely, the relationship between school officials and the police is formalised and relatively well-functioning. However, social, structural, and cultural barriers exist within the security network, weakening inter-group relations and likely undermining security outcomes. In addition to studying the larger security network, I also conducted an in-depth examination of two members of the security network: the police, who are usually considered reactive, and parents, who are often thought of as being preventative. First, contrary to current legislative efforts to criminalise cyber bullying, police officers prefer to prevent digital harassment whenever possible via their position as knowledge brokers. In addition, when police intervention is required, officers believe that current laws are effective and they try to avoid the courts whenever possible by engaging in restorative justice approaches. Second, parents iii strive to proactively manage their children’s risk of becoming involved in cyber bullying by restricting youths’ access to technology, using monitoring software as a surveillance mechanism, being emotionally available for their children, and encouraging their children to unplug from technology. Given parents’ own uncertainty with social technology, when their children do become involved in cyber bullying they often look for collaborative ways of responding so as to minimise harms to their children. To effectively improve the ways in which adults prevent and respond to cyber bullying, I argue that we must first understand current approaches and the limitations of such efforts. This study does just that, and the results provide a foundation upon which improved efforts to more effectively support those young people affected by cyber bullying may be constructed

How national culture and parental style affect the process of adolescents’ ecological resocialization

The role of adolescents as influencers on their families’ environmental behavior is potentially a catalyst for change towards increasing eco-friendly actions. In this paper, the authors report on a cross-cultural study of ecological resocialization in France and India. Using in-depth dyadic interviews, they investigated parental styles, cultural attributes and extent of adolescents’ influence over parental eco-behavior. The study reveals that ecological resocialization across countries differs substantially, according to a combination of national cultural values, parental style and influence strategy. French teens exhibit a greater impact than Indian teens on their parents’ eco-behavior and use bilateral influence strategies. In India, not all mothers engage in ecological resocialization, but those who do are susceptible to unilateral strategies. The role of environmental knowledge, and the context and effectiveness of each kind of strategy is discussed. The findings have implications for how public policy officials and agencies can encourage adolescents as key resocialization agents to influence their parents’ pro-environmental consumption by using the most adapted influence strategy across cultures

Bullying in a networked era: a literature review

This research update presents an aggregation and summary of recent academic literature on youth bullying. The purpose of this document is to “translate” scholarly research for a concerned public audience, which may include but is not limited to parents, caregivers, educators, and practitioners. This translation highlights recent findings and developments in the literature and makes them accessible to the informed but non-expert reader. The document’s two guiding questions are “What is bullying?” (Section I) and “What can be done about bullying?” (Section II). Section I begins with a brief overview of key definitions and related research conversations and then addresses bullying’s prevalence, the types of individuals involved in bullying, the characteristics of individuals involved and the consequences of their involvement, and community-level dynamics related to bullying. Section II covers four areas where action has been taken to address problems associated with bullying – school policy, curricula, school climate, and parents – and ends on a note about approaches that mix or cut across these areas. The purpose is to render lessons learned from research and assessment accessible to those interested in deepening or expanding their knowledge of bullying-related issues

The chalenges for families in the digital age.

UID/CCI/04667/2016It is with great pleasure that we present the 2018 Yearbook from the International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media at Nordicom: Digital Parenting: The Challenges for Families in the Digital Age. The topics addressed in the 2018 Yearbook – how to relate to or mediate children’s use of digital media, generational gaps in the use of media and the use of social media to display or seek support in parenthood – are timely and relevant in many respects and have engaged many qualified scholars from around the world. Parenting in the digital media environment is a theme often discussed in news media and among parenting groups. Balancing the opportunities of digital media and at the same time considering potentially unwanted and/or negative effects can be a challenge, both for adults and for the younger generation. There are no established policies, long traditions or experience to turn to and many are seeking advice. The 2018 Yearbook is the result of a great collaborative effort. Nordicom is deeply grateful to the editors of this new anthology, Giovanna Mascheroni, Cristina Ponte and Ana Jorge, as well as to all the contributors who have made this publication possible. It is our hope that the collection of articles will make interesting reading all around the world, stimulate new research and debate and provide new ideas regarding the topical and highly relevant issue of being a parent in the digital age. In the work of the Clearinghouse, the global dimension is a core principle, both with respect to the content we publish and distribute and to the contributors who produce it. Digital Parenting represents this principle by presenting contributions and examples and involving authors from many areas of the world. All books published by the Clearinghouse aim to shed light on different aspects concerning children, youth and media, spread current information and knowledge and hopefully stimulate further research. Various groups of users are targeted; researchers, policymakers, media professionals, voluntary organizations, teachers, students and interested individuals. It is our hope that this new Yearbook will be of interest and provide new insights on the topic of digital parenting to a broad range of readers. Göteborg, October 2018 Catharina Bucht Jonas Ohlsson Information coordinator Directorpublishersversionpublishe

Combining social and nutritional perspectives: from adolescence to adulthood (the ASH30 study)

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus specifically on the benefits of using mixed methods to investigate dietary change from adolescence to adulthood exemplified using the findings from the ASH30 longitudinal study. The ASH30 study is a longitudinal dietary survey which provided quantitative evidence of dietary change and investigated factors influencing dietary change from adolescence to adulthood. Design/methodology/approach Two three-day food diaries were collected both in 1980 (aged 11-12 years) and 2000 (aged 31-32 years) from the same 198 respondents in North East England. In 2,000 questionnaires were used to collect perceptions of, and attributions for, dietary change and open-ended responses were analysed using content analysis. Findings The use of mixed methods brings added breadth and depth to the research which cannot be achieved by a single discipline or method. Determining what has influenced change in dietary behaviour from adolescence to adulthood is a complex and multifaceted task. Eating habits are influenced by multiple factors throughout the life course. Change in food intake between adolescence and adulthood related to life-course events and trajectories. The qualitative findings highlighted relevant contextual information such as themes of moral panics, the concept of “convenience” and “fresh” foods. Practical implications Adopting mixed method approaches to exploring dietary change should offer a rich perspective from which to base realistic interventions. Originality/value Longitudinal dietary surveys present an opportunity to understand the complex process of dietary change throughout the life course in terms both of how diets have changed but also of why they have changed

Digital reality in Compulsary Secondary Education: uses, purposes and profiles in social networks

Daily lives of adolescents have changed significantly with the incorporation of social networks. Therefore, this quantitative study aims to analyze which social networks they use, to find out the predominant type of use they make of them and to explore their connectivity profile. To carry out the study, a sample of 850 Spanish students in Compulsory Secondary Education was analyzed. The results show that adolescents spend an excessive number of hours on social networks, with little parental supervision. They mainly use WhatsApp, Instagram and YouTube for social purposes. It is concluded that adolescents in Compulsory Secondary Education, outside school hours, and with their smartphones, spend a large part of their day on social networks, suppressing other kind of activity