A First Look Into Parental Strategies, and Challenges Around Children’s Device Usage in Urban Nepal
摘要
There have been substantial changes in the landscape of technology use by children in Global South during COVID-19, when the shift to online learning platforms necessitated parents to avail personal devices (e.g., smartphones, computers) for their children to fulfill their educational needs. However, the use of devices by children are not limited to serving educational purpose only. Our study positions itself in a critical post-pandemic period in Nepal, characterized by the increase in device use by children, while a little study to date, investigated parental mediation in this developing country. To this end, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 parents, who reported having at least one child aged below 14. Our findings unveil the situated parental strategies and challenges in regulating children’s device usage in Nepal, more broadly, in Global South. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations on the design of inclusive parental control tools.