The discursive construction of ‘good parenting’ and digital media – the case of children’s virtual world games

Abstract

This article investigates ways discourses which are present on the virtual world gaming websites and in popular press produce constructions of ‘good parents’ and ‘good websites’ for children, and in the process create distinctions which position other parental practices and online media as undesirable. The article includes a discussion of historical constructs of parenting in relation to screen media and an analysis of discourse surrounding three websites: Club Penguin, Poptropica, and Minecraft. The analysis shows that parents are positioned as evaluators, selectors, and monitors of children’s online activities, and virtual world games are constructed as providing protection from risks experienced in other spaces, including online stranger danger, commercial contact, and various negative effects on behavior. The article discusses ways these discursive constructs concerning virtual world games draw on earlier dominant discourses in relation to parenting and screen media, embedding discussions of parenting and virtual world gaming with social and cultural hierarchies.

Keywords

children digital media discourse analysis newspaper articles parenting virtual world games

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