Mobile phones in children’s after-school centres: stretching of place and control

Abstract

This article discusses the influence of virtual mobility on place. It examines the use of mobile phones in an after-school centre in Helsinki, Finland and the role of mobile phones in negotiations on space, control and boundaries. It investigates the function of the mobile phone in the coordination of children’s mobility in and out of the centre. It shows how the children make use of the capacity of mobile phones to connect to people and places physically separate for mobilising parental support by phone and use it as a resource in resolving conflicts in the centre. It shows how the different uses of the mobile phone grow into negotiations on the boundaries and space of the centre and cause tensions regarding the identities of the place.

KEY WORDS:

• mobile phone
• space
• boundaries
• children
• after-school centre
• control

Notes

1. In Finland children start primary school at the age of seven, sometimes at the age of six.

2. Young children’s school days are short and normally end at noon or 1 pm.

3. Adults’ names are written in capital letters, children’s names in small letters with an initial capital letter.

4. As the parents were not included in the study, it is not possible to draw conclusions about their own views on the spatial policy of the after-school centre.