Growing up in a surveillance society: The changing spaces of childhood experience

Abstract

There are many types of surveillance technologies that are used to observe, monitor and control the lives of children, and they are used for many reasons. The use of these technologies in the spaces children inhabit is on the increase. Given that the introduction of new surveillance technologies into childhood spaces has the potential to radically alter a child's experience of those spaces, it is important to explore the impact of these changes. In this thesis, it is argued that an increased use of surveillance technologies in the spaces that children inhabit brings about fundamental changes both to a child's emerging sense of self and to how a child comes to understand others and the world around them. The consequences of these changes are explored across four areas of childhood experience: imaginative play; childhood narrative; the development of trust and responsibility; and the nurturing of empathy and emotions as key elements of a child's moral development. Consideration is also given to how some of the more detrimental effects of surveillance technologies may be avoided through paths of resistance opened up by children and adults in fostering an environment to allow children to thrive as active agents in society. Overall, this research demonstrates that if the increased use of surveillance technologies on children continues, without sufficient reflection on the full range of consequences, then childhood experience may suffer as a result. Instead of being a time when a child can be a creative and active participant in their own emerging selfhood, a child may find themselves in an environment that renders them passive and anxious with less appreciation of the richness and diversity of the world around them.