ABSTRACT
The responsibility for protecting children in the digital environment is perceived to be that of parents who are provided with multiple guidelines for monitoring children’s screen time and online use. The societal understanding that parents are responsible for supervising– and controlling– their children’s online behaviour is clear. As a result, studies have tended to focus on parents’ digital literacy in relation to these policing and managing responsibilities. A growing body of research, however, has examined parents’ behaviour creating their own digital narratives using personal information and photographs of their children through ‘sharenting’. This paper contrasts parents’ digital literacy as publishers of personal information and narratives with their designated role in policing and managing their children’s media use. Parental power in this context inevitably extends to the control of their children’s privacy, however our study indicates breaches of children’s privacy by ‘sharenting’ practices is frequently not recognised or fully understood by parents.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Percentages listed are a subset of the total population. Those who chose that imagined audience.
2. Percentages listed are a subset of the total population. Those who chose that imagined audience.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Renee Barnes
Dr Renee Barnes is a senior lecturer in Journalism at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Her research focuses on participatory practices online. She is the author of Uncovering Commenting Culture: Trolls, Fanboys and Lurkers.
Anna Potter
Dr Anna Potter is an associate professor of screen media at the University of the Sunshine Coast. She is the author of Creativity, Culture, and Commerce: Producing Australian Children’s Television with Public Value.