Parents are endlessly bombarded with messages about what is “appropriate” for children to watch, do, and say on the internet, and they are constantly provided advice, guidance, and tips on what they can do on their part to help their children navigate their use of screens and the internet. Disney has capitalized on parents’ fear of screen time in the digital age by partnering with Circle Inc., a company that develops what they call “family-centric products that redefine how we connect” and “help families bring balance to their connected life.” Together, the companies developed “Circle with Disney,” a device that connects to a home’s wi-fi network and allows parents to control their children’s online presence and media consumption by setting time limits on their screen and internet use, setting filters for specific websites or content categories, viewing information about what their kids are doing online through user “insights,” and blocking ads. Conveniently, the device offers “a curated selection of Disney content including videos, blogs, gifs, emojis, music, games, characters and lots more.” My research is focused on an analysis of parental restriction discourses, including biological essentialism, hypodermic needle theory, and addiction discourses, as well as an exploration of Disney’s claimed authority as the primary child-oriented and family-friendly company and content producer. Online reviews of “Circle” and parental advice columns offer a revealing view of parents’ fears and strategies toward content restriction, as do surveys on families’ attitudes toward the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations for adolescent media use. Ultimately, my study explores why parents feel a need to restrict and supervise their children’s internet and screen use, and why Disney is seen as an appropriate substitute to the content which they are trying to restrict.
About the presenterHugo Ljungbäck
Hugo Ljungbäck is a video artist, film curator, and media scholar. His videos regularly explore queer subjectivities, oversexed bodies, and sexual abuse, and have screened at national and international film festivals and galleries. His research focuses on the intersection of video art, surveillance, labor, and queer cinema, and his writing has been published in international journals. He is an Undergraduate Research Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Chair of the UWM Moving Image Society.