Food and discussion begins at 12:30 pm. Everyone invited.

Most children get their own cell phones around middle school. They also gain increased access to computers at home and at school at this age. Their ubiquitous access to technology has changed the way they socialize and develop, and it has also changed the parenting process. Drawing on three years of research with parents, teens, and schools in the Atlanta area, this talk will present challenges parents face and rules they set around their children’s social media use. It will also discuss changing demands on schools in setting new policies about social media use during and outside of school hours. Newer research on race and class and social media use among families will also be presented.

Bio:

Sarita Yardi is a Ph.D. candidate in the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. She is advised by Professor Amy Bruckman. Her research involves the design, measurement, and analysis of social computing applications towards positive social outcomes. Her dissertation work explores parents and parenting strategies with respect to their kids’ Internet use. Her research spans areas of Social Computing, HCI, and Social Network Analysis.