Exploring Caregiver Support for and Conceptualizations of Their Children's Entrepreneurship in Interactive Online Spaces

Abstract

As the role of interactive digital media continues to grow in our ever-connected lives, so too do the expectations of the caregivers and parents of today's young people, particularly in scaffolding and brokering their experiences with online interactive media. Consequently, there are more and more ways for young people to socialize, learn, and create online. While these new forms of connection and access to information lead to many positive outcomes, some bring more challenging and complicated implications. In particular, young people are increasingly able to earn money and make a profit online from the fruits of their computational learning. This study seeks to better understand the complex landscape of young people's experiences engaging with paid online work through detailed qualitative studies. I seek to explore the tensions around youth creation online and caregiver's abilities to scaffold these experiences, with a particular emphasis on how caregivers conceptualize their children creating and become developers in online spaces.