‘Parenting for a Digital Future,’ with Professor Sonia Livingstone

‘Parenting for a Digital Future,’ with Professor Sonia Livingstone

Many parents are really struggling to help and supervise their children’s online world and learning. Why are parents being blamed and marginalised for “Bad Digital Parenting” Is this fair?

In her latest research and book “Parenting For A Digital Future” Professor Sandra Livingstone asked parents from all sorts of backgrounds about what their hopes were for their children in regard to a digital future. She and her colleague Alicia Blum-Ross found that many parents were really struggling to manage digital technology, and were sadly left out of a lot of initiatives and conversations around their own children’s online education. In this podcast Sonia and I discuss some of her findings and discuss possible solutions to help parents find the task of digital parenting easier and more equitable.

Sonia Livingstone DPhil (Oxon), OBE, FBA, FBPS, FAcSS, FRSA, is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Much of Sonia’s time these days is concerned with Children’s Rights in the Digital Age.

Professor Sonia Livingston

My guest today on the Digital Families Podcast is Sonia Livingstone a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and author of 20 books on media audiences, especially children and young people’s risks and opportunities, media literacy and rights in the digital environment. Her latest book is “Parenting for a Digital Future”: How hopes and fears about technology shape children’s lives

In this podcast Sonia outlines her latest research in how parents are coping with digital technology and their children. From parents who seem to have unlimited money and time to provide the latest tech for their offspring, to families that have old broken devices with limited data plans and who might struggle with English as a second language and their own awareness of how tech is shaping their children’s lives and eduction.

Sonia asks some important questions in this research and book, about the role of parents in our children digital future and what governments and technology companies need to do to include parents in the conversations around how digital devices are affecting our children’s lives.

Sonia also talks about the unfair pressure parents feel to provide increasing upgrades in education and technology to ensure their children are on a level playing field in order to realise their children futures in an increasing online world. Sonia’s research shows that parents have largely been left out of conversations around their children’s online education, although they are the ones at the front line with protecting their children online and maintaining a healthy balance of digital device use.

Sonia gives some ideas around some drastic changes that need to occur to help parents be part of their children’s online worlds and how governments and technology platforms can help parents to be more effective in guiding their children’s digital device use.

Parenting For A Digital Future

Listen Here!

[podcast_subscribe id=”11372″]

Watch Here!

Subscribe Here:

[email-subscribers-form id=”1″]

Leave a reply