Socio-technical practices of young children and parents in the home: a case study from Japan

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to explore what socio-technical arrangements are created from an amalgamation of young children, their families, and technology. Lawrence Lessig’s four forces – law, social norms, market, and architecture – were used to analyze the practices and constraints of children’s digital activities and parental involvement in the home. A home-visit interview study with six parent–child pairs found the children’s activities to be constrained by four elements: 1) rules arranged by children and parents; 2) domestic norms among their families; 3) markets through which parents purchase digital devices; and 4) architecture in the physical and spatial configuration of the home. These four constraints created new opportunities for children’s activities. The children’s use of technology not only expanded their activities, but also exploited technological vulnerabilities. The ambiguity of the activity led to a reorganization of the domestic architecture and a reconstruction of the rules between parents and children. IMPACT SUMMARY a. Prior State of Knowledge: Children’s domestic digital activities are collectively composed of heterogeneous actors including children, parents, artifacts, and technology. It is useful to introduce a perspective of human and non-human relationships and analyze what kinds of socio-technical arrangements exist in their activities. b. Novel Contributions: An analysis of children’s digital activities in the home, using Lessig’s four forces, showed both expansion and vulnerability of their activities. This ambiguity led to a reconstruction of the domestic architecture and the rules between parents and children. c. Practical Implications: Lessig’s four elements broaden children’s digital activities beyond individual children to parent-child relationships and socio-technical arrangements. Parents and practitioners can use them to consider extensions and constraints of children’s activities with technology.