Overstimulated Consumers or Next-Generation Learners? Parent Tensions About Child Mobile Technology Use

Dear Dr. Radesky and Colleagues,

My co-authors (1) and I thank you for the opportunity to respond to your work (2).

First, we are enthused by your use of qualitative research methods to generate hypotheses about parent perspectives on children's mobile technology use. All too often, as the authors note, such claims are made in "idealized laboratories and board rooms" rather than grounded in naturalistic social phenomena.

Second, we want to mention to how important it is that the sample includes participants from a broad range of racial, ethnic, educational, and employment backgrounds, and that the coding team includes those from different areas of medical expertise. This provides a better check on cultural biases in both sampling and analyses.

Third, we would like to add that the framework the authors present would be enhanced by incorporating an ecological perspective (3); that is, considering others who interact with children across the various spheres of influence mediating their technology use. Clinicians can learn how to have conversations about children's mobile media use not only from parents and patients, but also those who directly encircle the developing child (e.g., after-school program providers) and researchers from a range of relevant fields (e.g., learning science, sociology). This will provide a more balanced perspective on the risks and benefits of children's mobile media use.

Fourth, we have a note on the interview questions posed to parents. The authors asked, "What do you think about newspaper articles or blogs that criticize parents for getting too 'distracted' with their phones?" The question presupposes that parents frequently come across such media (and perhaps are heavy mass and social media consumers), and moreover, that media narratives (often in English language media) are an important factor in how they form their beliefs. Some parents however may be less influenced by individual media exposure and more by perceived norms from their extended social networks. Depending on families' cultural background and identities, a better question might be, "Besides your own experiences, what else (e.g., media, religion) or who else (e.g., your siblings) influences your beliefs about children's use of mobile devices?"

In conclusion, we agree with the overall takeaway of the study. Guidelines for pediatric clinicians need to better reflect the experiences and concerns of caregivers, and not be solely extrapolated from anecdotal evidence among pediatricians and family medical providers, who tend to represent a far narrow demographic subsection than patients and their families.

(1) Alper M, Katz VS, Schofield-Clark L. Researching children, intersectionality, and diversity in the digital age. J Children Media. 2016; 10(1): 107???114.

(2) Radesky JS, Eisenberg S, Kistin CJ, Gross J, Block G, Zuckerman B, Silverstein M. Overstimulated consumers or next-generation learners? Parent tensions about child mobile technology use. Ann Fam Med. 2016;14(6):503-508.

(3) Bronfenbrenner U. The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1979.

Competing interests: None declared