Study Notes on "The Kids Hate It, but We Love It!"

Study Notes on "The Kids Hate It, but We Love It!”

Authors and Publication Details

  • Authors: Davide Cino, Giovanna Mascheroni, Ellen Wartella

  • Affiliations:

    • Davide Cino: Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy

    • Giovanna Mascheroni: Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy

    • Ellen Wartella: Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

  • Publication Details:

    • Source: Media and Communication

    • ISSN: 2183-2439

    • Volume: 8

    • Issue: 4

    • Pages: 208-217

    • DOI: 10.17645/mac.v8i4.3247

  • Date: Submitted: 11 May 2020 | Accepted: 10 August 2020 | Published: 10 November 2020

Abstract

  • Purpose:

    • Present a critical analysis of Circle, focusing on parental mediation, children’s surveillance, and children's rights to participate online.

  • Findings:

    • Parents have an ambivalent relationship with Circle.

    • High adherence to dominant themes concerning 'screen time' as good parenting practice.

    • Criticism for failing to provide detailed monitoring and promoting conflicts at home.

    • Overall outcome suggests that parental control devices foster restrictive mediation, diminishing children's voice and participatory agency online.

Keywords

  • Children, Circle, parental mediation, privacy, surveillance

1. Introduction

  • Mobile Media in Family Life:

    • 98% of U.S. households with children aged 0–8 own at least one mobile device.

    • Average child aged 0–8 spends 48 minutes a day on devices.

    • By age 11, 53% of children have smartphones; by age 12, ownership increases to 69%.

    • Screen media use ranges from 5 to 7.5 hours per day.

    • 80% of European children aged 9-16 use smartphones and spend around 167 minutes online daily.

  • Concerns for Parental Supervision:

    • Mobile media usage fosters unsupervised experiences, with 39% of teens sleeping with their devices.

    • Traditional mediation strategies are diminished by the prevalence of personal devices.

    • 53% of U.S. parents fear screen addiction among children; 67% prioritize monitoring over privacy.

    • 31% of parents use third-party tools for managing children's device use, including Circle.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Leisure Time, Screens, and Parental Accountability

  • Historical Media Panics:

    • Cycles of concern over children and new media, dating back to commercial publishing and early forms of mass media.

    • Discussions around media benefits vs. risks shape parental responsibilities.

  • Intensive Parenting Framework:

    • Parents are expected to manage children’s media to enhance benefits and mitigate risks.

  • Historical Patterns:

    • New technologies lead to fears and calls for protective measures regarding children’s media exposure.

2.2. Digital Parenting

  • Parental Mediation:

    • Defined as practices parents use to guide children’s media engagement. Adopted styles reflect household cultures.

    • Complications arise due to the privatization of digital media use.

    • Digital parenting represents parents' evolving strategies using mobile and digital tools.

3. Methodology

  • Study Design:

    • Content analysis combining quantitative and qualitative approaches based on Amazon and Searchman reviews.

  • Sample Size:

    • A total of 143 user reviews considered after filtering.

  • Variables Coded:

    • Background demographics, perceived advantages, disadvantages, mediation strategies, and parental ethics towards digital media.

4. Findings

4.1. Posters’ Perceptions of Circle

  • Advantages:

    • 52% reported perceived advantages (e.g., setting internet time limits (39%), device compatibility (35%), content filtering (34%)).

  • Disadvantages:

    • 72% reported drawbacks (e.g., difficulty in setup (26%), slowing down the internet speed (26%), insufficient monitoring (18%)).

4.2. Parenting Orientation

  • Styles of Mediation:

    • 89% of reviews reflected restrictive mediation; 11% showed enabling mediation.

  • Parental Ethics:

    • 87% reflected an ethic of respectful connectedness, 13% of expressive empowerment.

  • Statistical Analysis:

    • Significant relationships between mediation style and parental ethic:
      X^2(1, N = 55) = 38.46, p < .001, ext{ } 𝜙 = .83.

5. Discussion and Conclusions

  • Implications of Circle:

    • Adoption of Circle aligns with dominant discourses framing children as vulnerable and parents as protectors; it can foster a restrictive parenting style.

    • Concerns arise over children’s rights and autonomy with restrictive mediation strategies.

  • Future Research:

    • Investigate the impact of Circle on family dynamics, children's wellbeing. Include children’s perspectives in future studies.

Acknowledgments

  • Thanks to research assistants Erica Demmi and Silvia Mirone for their contributions in data analysis.

Conflict of Interests

  • Authors declare no conflict of interests.

References

  • A comprehensive reference list is provided following the research protocols.