Graduate Defense: Michael Wendell

Dissertation Information

Title: Kid Tech Balance: Children Self-Management Tools as an Alternative to Parental Controls

Program: Master of Science in Computer Science

Advisor: Dr. Jerry Fails, Computer Science

Committee Members: Dr. Kendall House, Anthropology; Dr. John Ziker, Anthropology and Dr. Francesca Spezzano, Computer Science

Abstract

Technology integration into the household is ever expanding and so is the need for children’s safety when it comes to accessing this technology. Parental controls exist as a way for parents to be able to control and protect their children from possible hazards of technology use. However, many controls provide only the ability to help parents lock or restrict their children from using technology. This research seeks to identify and create a control solution that helps develop moderation habits in children instead of restrictions, thereby helping both parents and children. A new control application was developed though this research, aptly named Kid Tech Balance(KTB) for it’s solution to providing balance to children in their own technology usage. The KTB application, also provides simple access for parents to use controls and creates a conversation in the family about technology use. The created application was then reviewed by several families to determine its effectiveness in accomplishing these goals.