Sixteenth International Conference on Technology, Knowledge & Society

Abstract

This article tries to investigate how Chinese immigrant parents with different backgrounds negotiate technology with their children. More specifically, how do first-generation Chinese immigrant parents perceive screen time in their children’s life, and what strategies did middle- and working-class parents take to deal with children’s digital inclusion? To answer former questions, this article brings theories of the digital divide into conversation with a broader literature on Chinese immigration. Drawing on 38 formal interviews and five months of nonparticipant observation, I shed light on first-generation middle and working-class Chinese immigrants’ perceptions and strategies of dealing children’s screen time in Chicago, which showed their class distinction. Previous research mainly discussed Chinese immigrants with enclave default and were less likely to discuss how Chinese immigrants from various backgrounds navigate their parenting differently with the same concern. Through the empirical examination of two groups of Chinese immigrants, this study demonstrates that although first-generation Chinese immigrants were commonly concerned about their children’s screen time, they have very different strategies or tool kits to deal with the problem. Thus, this article makes two important contributions to the literatures on the digital divide and Chinese immigration: (1) It contextualize digital divide in Chinese immigrant families, and shows that children’s digital inclusion presents a new challenge for first-generation Chinese immigrant’s childrearing; (2) As middle-class Chinese immigrant family has more resilience when facing the new digital challenges of childrearing than their counterparts of working-class, it puts forward a new dimension to discuss the internal segregation in one ethnic group.