Public Story
Generation Mobile (ongoing). Our children and technology
Generation Mobile explores through portraiture and participatory photography the role technology plays in children’s lives and its effects on their well-being, mental health and behaviour. This project is also about me as a parent, my children and the balance we are trying to find in using technology.
We all use technology as an integral part of our lives for important purposes and we need to find healthy ways to use it without letting it take over. For some children technology brings problems: the NHS recently opened its first internet addiction centre for young people and adults in London. Generation Mobile is a way of exploring the impact of technology on children through photographs which can then be used in a number of ways with children, their families and friends to discuss and understand the issues..
My approach in taking these portraits varies depending on the age group. With young children, I re-create a situation I witnessed or as it was described to me by the parents. With older children I am planning to use participatory techniques to engage them in the making of the image.
I started this project in 2015 and would like to complete it in the next year, exploring how Generation Mobile habits have changed due to the lockdown - increased use of technology and experience of personal digital imagery – the Zoom family and friends reunion, the on-screen grandparents, the online schooling and, in general, the amount of daily screen-time while parents work.
I am collecting stories from parents, relatives, carers and children themselves, please get in touch at chiara.ceolin@gmail.com to share your experience.
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