Parental surveillance of teens in the digital era: the “ritual of confession” to the “ritual of repentance”

Abstract

The use of ICTs by teens are sometimes a source of fear for parents. Yet the same ICTs can be a tool and comfort to parents who need to know where their children are, with whom and what they are doing when they are far away from their gaze. This following article explores this tension, and especially how teenagers see the surveillance of their parents in the digital era. It is based on 35 interviews conducted amongst French teenagers aged 14 to 18 from October 2017 to April 2018. It reveals how the use of ICTs to monitor teens participates in the emergence of a new form of control, drawing questions not only in the realm of the family yet also in wider society.