The Stranger Danger: Exploring Surveillance, Autonomy, and Privacy in Children’s Use of Social Media

The threat of online ‘stranger danger’ is a dominant theme in mainstream Western media reporting about children and the Internet. This climate of fear and moral panic has certain parents seeking increasingly restrictive measures to keep their children ‘out of harm’s way’ (Barnes, 2006; Boyd & Je...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nolan, J., Raynes-Goldie, Kate, McBride, M.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Canadian Association for Young Children 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44980
_version_ 1848757154783166464
author Nolan, J.
Raynes-Goldie, Kate
McBride, M.
author_facet Nolan, J.
Raynes-Goldie, Kate
McBride, M.
author_sort Nolan, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The threat of online ‘stranger danger’ is a dominant theme in mainstream Western media reporting about children and the Internet. This climate of fear and moral panic has certain parents seeking increasingly restrictive measures to keep their children ‘out of harm’s way’ (Barnes, 2006; Boyd & Jenkins, 2006; Chung & Grimes, 2005; Livingstone, 2009; Marwick, 2008). While the stranger danger meme has proven profitable for companies selling parental surveillance software (i.e. ‘censorware’), research indicates that children are safer now than a decade ago (Boyd & Jenkins, 2006; Lumber, 2009; Statistics Canada, 2003; Wastler, 2010; Wolak, Finkelhor & Mitchell, 2004; Wolak, Finkelhor, Mitchell & Ybarra, 2008; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). However, it is the concern about risk, rather than an increase in actual risk, which is the story behind the headlines (Kelley, Mayall & Hood, 1997).
first_indexed 2025-11-14T09:23:35Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-44980
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:23:35Z
publishDate 2011
publisher Canadian Association for Young Children
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-449802017-01-30T15:17:39Z The Stranger Danger: Exploring Surveillance, Autonomy, and Privacy in Children’s Use of Social Media Nolan, J. Raynes-Goldie, Kate McBride, M. Canada surveillance social media Internet studies children The threat of online ‘stranger danger’ is a dominant theme in mainstream Western media reporting about children and the Internet. This climate of fear and moral panic has certain parents seeking increasingly restrictive measures to keep their children ‘out of harm’s way’ (Barnes, 2006; Boyd & Jenkins, 2006; Chung & Grimes, 2005; Livingstone, 2009; Marwick, 2008). While the stranger danger meme has proven profitable for companies selling parental surveillance software (i.e. ‘censorware’), research indicates that children are safer now than a decade ago (Boyd & Jenkins, 2006; Lumber, 2009; Statistics Canada, 2003; Wastler, 2010; Wolak, Finkelhor & Mitchell, 2004; Wolak, Finkelhor, Mitchell & Ybarra, 2008; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). However, it is the concern about risk, rather than an increase in actual risk, which is the story behind the headlines (Kelley, Mayall & Hood, 1997). 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44980 Canadian Association for Young Children restricted
spellingShingle Canada
surveillance
social media
Internet studies
children
Nolan, J.
Raynes-Goldie, Kate
McBride, M.
The Stranger Danger: Exploring Surveillance, Autonomy, and Privacy in Children’s Use of Social Media
title The Stranger Danger: Exploring Surveillance, Autonomy, and Privacy in Children’s Use of Social Media
title_full The Stranger Danger: Exploring Surveillance, Autonomy, and Privacy in Children’s Use of Social Media
title_fullStr The Stranger Danger: Exploring Surveillance, Autonomy, and Privacy in Children’s Use of Social Media
title_full_unstemmed The Stranger Danger: Exploring Surveillance, Autonomy, and Privacy in Children’s Use of Social Media
title_short The Stranger Danger: Exploring Surveillance, Autonomy, and Privacy in Children’s Use of Social Media
title_sort stranger danger: exploring surveillance, autonomy, and privacy in children’s use of social media
topic Canada
surveillance
social media
Internet studies
children
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/44980