Technology and the Parent-Adolescent Relationship

Sample

A recent Pew Research poll showed that 95% of teens aged 13 to 17 years in the United States have a smartphone, and, of those, 45% report being on their phone “almost constantly” (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). However, though teens are commonly accused of being distracted by their devices, parents are often just as guilty of these “digital distractions” (Jiang, 2018). Further, the “practical obscurity” afforded by mobile technology—in which parents have little to no access to their child’s online behavior—can cause tension in the parent–child relationship (Blackwell, Gardiner, & Schoenebeck, 2016). For example, many teens have one Instagram account they allow their parents to follow but have other “Finsta” (“fake Insta”) accounts that remain secret from their parents (Duff y & Chan, 2019). However, technology has also been shown to lead to improved parent–child relationships (Kanter, Afi fi , & Robbins, 2012), particularly through mediated self-disclosure practices (Racz, Johnson, Bradshaw, & Cheng, 2017). What, then, does technology mean for the parent–adolescent relationship? In what ways does technology work to undermine this already delicate dynamic—and in what ways can it serve as a tool for relational maintenance, communication, and security? This chapter uses the story of Sabrina and her two teenage daughters to explore the ways in which technology can be appropriately utilized by parents and teens to balance competing needs for privacy, autonomy, and safety. Specifically, this story focuses on the use of both texting and GPS apps to facilitate parent–adolescent communication, relationship maintenance, and disclosure.