Digital Technology Use and Teen Wellbeing in Context: An Ethnographic Investigation

Project Information

TecWell

Grant agreement ID: 891653

DOI

10.3030/891653

Project closed

EC signature date 6 March 2020

Start date 1 September 2021

End date 31 October 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 172 932,48

EU contribution

€ 172 932,48

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TecWell (Digital Technology Use and Teen Wellbeing in Context: An Ethnographic Investigation)

Reporting period: 2021-09-01 to 2023-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The imminent onset of what the World Economic Forum calls the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" and the rapid introduction of cyberphysical systems into social life is raising global concerns as to whether and how these technologies can be safely integrated into human societies as they are brought to scale. One area where considerable anxiety is currently focused is child development, as both parents and professionals question the potential impact that engagement with digital technologies may have on children’s wellbeing. The study addresses these concerns by ethnographically investigating the interplay between the experiential aspects of both consumption and creation of digital media in young teens, the manners in which digital media is integrated into family life, and children’s digital or AI literacy. Ethnographic investigation focuses on the broader relational contexts within which children’s engagement with digital media takes place, including such spaces as Fabrication Labs and Makerspaces, where children actively engage in the production of digital artifacts and content. In investigating children’s and parents’ attitudes towards, and engagement with digital technologies, I attend in particular to experiential aspects of play and creativity, capture or addiction, and those of boredom and mind wandering. Through this qualitative and holistic approach, the study seeks to identify some of the contributing factors to children’s fruitful integration of digital technologies into their lives as they enter the age of the intelligent machine, developing as it does educational initiatives aimed at facilitating children’s critical assessment and understanding of these technologies and their growing impact on their lives.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The study implemented a qualitative and holistic approach to investigation, including the use of open ended interviews, informal conversations, and participant observation across various relevant educational contexts. This resulted in the generation of rich, qualitative, and situated data about the subjective lived experience of children and their parents as they traversed social realities in which the digital is occupying an increasingly large place, and where it is increasingly experienced as threatening to their wellbeing either as individuals or as family units. The study found that for many, parenting in this context emerges as an ethical practice in and of itself, with parents across socioeconomic brackets experiencing a growing anxiety in relation to present and future use of digital technology by their children. Existing anxieties seemed augmented by the implications of the COVID19 pandemic, as well as the rapid introduction of generative AI models (such as ChatGPT) to social life, and the public discourse accompanying this introduction. Specifically, it appears that these factors combine to evoke in many parents a sense that the future is becoming more opaque, less knowable, and hence more threatening. Reactions to this were reveled to be varied, raging from a stark rejection and attempt to distance children from any use of technology or digital media, to an encouragement of children to become “experts” in the field.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Knowledge generated by the study stands to contribute to existing literature on the relationship between digital media use and wellbeing that relies primarily on quantitative or survey data. Within anthropology, the study’s main scholarly contributions are in the field of child rearing and socialization, a traditional anthropological field of research that has received relatively little attention in recent years, as well as the nascent anthropological interest in the social effects of and social reaction to AI and the increased digitization of social life and interaction. Finally, through its qualitative and holistic approach, the study seeks to identify some of the contributing factors to children’s fruitful integration of digital technologies into their lives as they enter the age of the intelligent machine, developing as it does educational initiatives aimed at facilitating children’s critical assessment and understanding of these technologies and their growing impact on their lives.

“Use of phones or cameras in the school is prohibited. Don’t use your phone, enjoy the moment."