Abstract
Moral panics are typically studied retrospectively, often addressing historical concerns rather than contemporary ones. However, we argue, that understanding the types and levels of media-related worry among the public in general, and parents in particular, might aid an understanding of probable topics of future media panics and discourses of anxiety. Consequently, in this study we seek to uncover what parents today worry about a lot, and which factors predict strong media-related worry. Using a representative sample with Norwegian children 9–17 years, and one of their parents, we look at the top worries of parents. Then, we seek to understand the number one media-related worry—“my child using the mobile phone too much”—and if and how such worry is linked to characteristics of the parent or of characteristics of the child. Our findings show that the characteristics and experiences of the child as perceived by the parent, correlate more strongly with parent worries over smartphone use than the adult-related variables do. And, importantly, family atmosphere matters: Children who feel that it is easy to talk with their parents about what they experience online, have parents who feel substantially less worried about mobile phone use.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Asbjørnsen, Dag, and Ove Solum. ‘Public Service Cinema? On Strategies of Legitimacy in Policies for Norwegian Cinema’. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 5, no. 2 (1999): 269–291.
Bruus, Pedersen. Film og filmcensur i Norden 1965–1975: en undersøgelse af filmcensurpraksis i de fem nordiske lande. København: Nyt fra samfundsvidenskaberne, 1976.
De Young, Mary. The Day Care Ritual Abuse Moral Panic. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2004.
Det Kongelige Kulturdepartement. Prop. 102 L. Proposisjon til Stortinget (forslag til lovvedtak). Endringer i lov 15. mai 1987 nr. 21 om film og videogram. Oslo: Kulturdepartementet, 2009–2010.
Drotner, Kirsten. ‘Dangerous Media? Panic Discourses and Dilemmas of Modernity’. Paedagogica Historica, 35, no. 3 (1999): 593–619. https://doi.org/10.1080/0030923990350303.
Freeston, Mark, Joseé Rhéaume, Hélène Letarte, Michel J. Dugas, and Robert Ladouceur. ‘Why Do People Worry?’. Personality and Individual Differences, 17, no. 6 (1994): 791–802. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(94)90048-5.
Goode Erich, and Nachman Ben-Yehuda. ‘Moral Panics: An Introduction’. In Critical Readings: Moral Panics and the Media, edited by Critcher Chas, pp. 50–59. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2006.
Hannemyr, Gisle. Hva er internett. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, 2005.
Hasebrink, Uwe, Anke Görzig, Leslie Haddon, Veronica Kalmus, Sonia Livingstone, and members of the EU Kids Online Network. Patterns of Risk and Safety Online: In-Depth Analyses from the EU Kids Online Survey of 9- to 16-Year-Olds and Their Parents in 25 European Countries EU Kids Online. EU Kids Online: London School of Economics and Political Science, 2011. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/39356/ (accessed June 9, 2019).
Inglehart, Ronald, and Christian Welzel. Modernization, Cultural Change and Democracy (Based on the World Values Surveys, See www.worldvaluessurvey.org). New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Ipsos. EU Kids Online 2018 Technical Report Norway. Oslo: University of Oslo, 2019.
Koning, Ian. M., Regina J. van den Eijnden, Terese Glatz, and Wilma A. Vollebergh. ‘Don’t Worry! Parental Worries, Alcohol-Specific Parenting and Adolescents’ Drinking’. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 37, no. 5 (2013): 1079–1088. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-013-9545-0.
Kulturdepartementet. Lov om beskyttelse av mindreårige mot skadelige bildeprogram mv. Lovdata, 2015. Retrieved from https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/2015-02-06-7?q=medie (accessed May 6, 2019).
Livingstone, Sonia, Leslie Haddon, Anke Görzig, and Kjartan Ólafsson. Risk and Safety on the Internet: The Perspective of European Children. Full Findings from the EU Kids Online Survey of 9–16 Year Olds and Their Parents EU Kids Online. London School of Economics and Political Science, 2011. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/33731/ (accessed May 6, 2019).
Lov om film og videogram, Lovdata.no (1987), 1987.
Mathews, Andrew. ‘Why Worry? The Cognitive Function of Anxiety’. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28, no. 6 (1990): 455–468. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(90)90132-3.
McLuhan, Marshal. Understanding the Media: The Extentions of Man. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1964.
Meyer, Thomas, Metzger Miller, and Thomas Borkovec. Development and Validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28, no. 6 (1990): 487–495. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(90)90135-6.
Ministry of Children and Families. Act Relating to the Control of Marketing and Contract Terms and Conditions, Etc. Lovdata, 2009.
Reporters Without Borders. World Press Freedom Index 2019, 2019.
Solum (Ed.). Film til folket. Sensur og kinopolitikk i 100 år. Oslo Akademika forlag, 2013.
Staksrud, Elisabeth. Digital mobbing: Hvem Hvor, Hvordan, Hvorfor – og hva kan voksne gjøre? Oslo: Kommuneforlaget, 2013.
Staksrud, Elisabeth, and Kjartan Ólafsson. Tilgang, bruk, risiko og muligheter, Norske barn på Internett. Resultater fra EU Kids Online Undersøkelsen i Norge 2018. Oslo: Institutt for medier og kommunikasjon, Universitetet i Oslo, 2019.
Stephenson, Rebecca, H., and Sarah Banet-Weiser. ‘Super-Sized Kids: Obesity, Children, Moral Panic, and the Media’. In The Children’s Television Community, edited by Alison J. Bryant, pp. 277–292. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers, 2007.
The Norwegian National Committees for Research Ethics. Guidelines for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences, Humanities, Law and Theology. Edited by B. Hvinden, V. Enebakk, K. Fjørtoft, I. Holand, R. Johnsen, I. Kolstad, A. Nevøy, M.-L. Ø. Skilbrei, E. S. Sandmo, E. Staksrud, K. M. Tande, P. Ulleberg, L. Øyum, K. J. Bang, and T. H. Monsen. Oslo: The Norwegian National Committees for Research Ethics, 2016.
Utdannings- og forskningsdepartementet. St. meld. nr. 30 Kultur for læring. Regjeringa Bondevik II, 2003–2004. Retrieved from https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/988cdb018ac24eb0a0cf95943e6cdb61/no/pdfs/stm200320040030000dddpdfs.pdf.
Weeks, Jeffrey. ‘AIDS, the Intellectual Agenda’. In Critical Readings: Moral Panics and the Media, edited by Chas Critcher, pp. 77–87. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 1989/2006.
Wiig. (2008, 21.06.2008, 13:16). ‘Turte ikke å sende i farger’. Retrieved May 26, 2010, from http://www.nrk.no/magasin/1.6071482.
World Values Survey. ‘Wold Values Survey Wave 5’, 2005–2009. http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSOnline.jsp.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Staksrud, E., Ólafsson, K. (2020). Is It Me, or Is It You? Exploring Contemporary Parental Worries in Norway. In: Tsaliki, L., Chronaki, D. (eds) Discourses of Anxiety over Childhood and Youth across Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46436-3_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46436-3_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-46435-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-46436-3
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)