The relationship between parents and children has shifted to constant communication via mobile phones, providing parents with peace of mind. However, this creates a digital contract granting teens limited freedom under constant surveillance. Child development experts warn it may erode trust and genuine interactions.
Many parents give their children mobile phones to communicate 24 hours a day, ensuring they are safe. This has formed a digital contract where teenagers are allowed to leave home alone only if they promise to carry the phone at all times and respond immediately to messages or calls from parents.
Digital child development experts, teachers, and those working with teens say this constant surveillance system places significant pressure, especially during adolescence when independence is crucial. Over-reliance on phones can reduce real-life communication between parents and children, and weaken their trust.
“Modern phones have created a new social condition where a person can be reached anywhere they are, regardless of what they are doing. Many parents complain about their children receiving messages during family time, but in reality, it is now the parents perpetuating this behavior by demanding immediate responses when they call,” says digital parenting expert Tracy Makiel.
According to Makiel, for many young people, talking to parents is part of learning self-care in public spaces while building personal relationships. However, digital methods also provide opportunities for criminal networks to access family personal information, as parents fear online safety. Parents often communicate to reassure themselves that their children are still online and responsive, not for emergencies.
Teens interviewed in a study published in Psychology Today said parents call or message them even in class, just to check they are 'online.' The report states, “The digital relationship expected to provide a sense of security often brings feelings entirely different from those intended.”