Typing carefully

exchange of these important social gifts - emails / texts.

5.2.2.3 Typing carefully

Children’s and parents’ concerns about communicating on devices differed. Children’s concerns about writing polite emails / texts centred on typing them. However, parents were concerned about text speak and its development within children’s written language, as the following outlines.

Mother: Sending a few emails out on my iPhone from work, and you do write it a little more shorthand, but it worries me. Children more and more they write things on Facebook, … typing, it is meant to be typed, and … writing birthday cards, letters, and a piece of work to submit for school, and the text, text is shortened. Text shortenedness is taking over [Int: 2, 11 years].

Written language on mobiles / internet devices is sometimes used in a different way from more usual written communications. Words are sometimes

abbreviated and shortened, as parents mentioned. In some cases this has become a new way of communicating, referred to as text speak (Crystal, 2008). It was interesting to explore parents’ thoughts about the impact of text speak on children's writing. They worried that their children would not be able to write clearly worded communications, as a result of using text speak.

Participating children in comparison, did not seem to have any concerns about the way they wrote their emails / texts. It was simply something they did and enjoyed doing. As discussed, they were making efforts to be polite within their written communications, associated with the need to receive replies and continue communicating. Further, they did not raise it as an issue that they thought their parents might be concerned about either.

Some children did however express concern about typing emails / texts. This seemed to be more associated with their actual ability to type opposed to their ability to write, as one mother and child detail in the following quote.

Mother: What about emails?

Leah: Well I only really email daddy if he is away. […] Mother: That's how we communicate when he is away, really. I must admit they are not very good at it. I have to push them to do it; even though it is emailing their daddy! I: What puts you off? What might put you off doing the email to daddy?

Leah: Well, I can't really type that well. I: So you are a bit worried about the typing?

Mother: Slow. Sometimes she is very slow and mummy takes over. Just to get it out quickly [Int: 8, 10 years].

Children's slowness or lack of typing skill was evident in another interview too. One 9 year old expressed concern about typing emails. Her mother felt that she was getting behindin comparison to her peers, and thus arranged with school for her to access a typing skills program [Int: 7, 9 years].

Perhaps some parents had high expectations about their children's use of mobile / internet devices. When writing emails / texts messages there are so many things that children need to think about. Parents and young people might be able to type quickly, but they have many years of experience both in writing and typing. Conversely, children are new to both these skills. They need to think very carefully about what they write and how they type, as demonstrated within the above interview [interview 8]. Typing slowly might suggest that Leah is thinking carefully about what she is doing and wants to get the message just right for her father. But if she is put under pressure to do so, as evident in the example, then she may become reluctant. Layard and Dunn (2009) in their report on

pressure by parents to get everything right. But this approach may not help them to develop the skills they need, particularly communication skills, as demonstrated with Leah. There are ways around this as the second example illustrates. Parents can support children in the development of their

communication skills by considering what might help them to improve. The second child learnt to email by accessing a typing skills program.

Overall, different things concern children and parents about children writing emails / texts. Children worry about the actual process of typing their messages. Parents worry about how children actually write, in an effort to ensure that emails / texts are written politely. Discussing both verbal and written communication for children on mobile / internet devices has demonstrated that they do care about how they communicate. They have fun writing polite messages and receiving replies; communicating within Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) social settings 1

(immediate) with family and friends. But they do face communication challenges, which need to be supported. Ifchildren are supported by their parents it will help them to communicate politely. As the parent mediation literature recently highlights; parents and children working together (Valkenburg et al., 1999, 2013) can help children to develop these skills. Communicating politely on their devices matters to children, and they try to achieve it.

5.3 Cool communications

The next subtheme is cool communications. Children's thoughts about the object they use most for communication, the mobile phone is discussed. Also, the different ways children think they communicate in a cool way, are outlined.

Mobile / internet devices are a cool way for children to communicate. Mobile phones with internet access, smartphones such as the Apple iPhone, are

considered the most desirable of devices. The expression I want an iPhone, was heard many times during the research. Children wanted mobile phones that