Dr Yu Cheung Wong from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

1. P A R E N T I N G M E T H O D S A N D
C H I L D R E N ’ S E V A L U AT I O N O F T H E I R
E X P E R I E N C E I N U S I N G T H E
S M A R T P H O N E :
W O N G Y U C H E U N G
T H E C H I N E S E U N I V E R S I T Y O F H O N G K O N G

2. BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY
• Sponsored by HK Family Society, a local NGO
providing school social work services to 35 secondary
schools (one of their services)
• Questionnaires 1,564 students (in-class, self-
administered) and 1,320 parents (brought-home, self-
administered)
• Weighting applied

3. • Hong Kong, well-developed ICT infrastructure
• Almost all (98.4%) school children aged 14-17 had a
smartphone. (97.7% for 10-13)
• Only about 89.5% of their parents have ever used a
smartphone.
• 35.0% thought themselves highly proficient in using
the smartphone, only 9.0% of their parents thought
so.

4. Male Female Total
Average hours
each week
Average hours
each week
Average hours
each week
Search for
information for
learning/homework
2.22 2.78 2.51
Browse interested
websites
4.01 4.11 4.06
Gaming 7.11 2.77 5.07
Entertainment 5.37 7.08 6.27
Online shopping 1.10 2.07 1.71
Telephone 2.00 1.43 1.70
Communicating with
friends
5.98 7.77 6.90
Others 1.05 8.23 4.81

5. • More than 80% considered smartphone as a
communication tool, and 65%, as a learning
tool.
• About 30% reported troubled experience
–having tendency of addicted to the smartphone
(30.0%),
–affecting academic performance (25%),
–affecting health (28.0%) ,
–encountering indecent materials easily (27.0%),

6. • More than 50% of the parents had experienced
conflicts
–disobedience and verbal disputes with their
children in using the smartphone at times
•15% had experienced such conflicts frequently.
• Fortunately, serious conflicts, such as physical
violence and running away from home were still
rare.

7. • Among the 18 items collected from focus group
interviews with parents, children, teachers and social
workers, we have identified three key types (Involvement,
Screening and Monitoring).
Involvement (Cronbach’s Alpha = .766)
Discuss and share usage experience with children
Discuss with children about online threats
Encourage children to use it properly
Use smartphone/table together with children for watching movie,
gaming and explore common interests
Share knowledge and skills together
Add children as Facebook friends or other SMSs
Interact with children through SMSs, WhatsApp or other instant
messaging software

8. Screening (Cronbach’s Alpha=.637)
Children need to get the password from you when
downloading Apps
Install filtering software on their devices to prevent
access to indecent websites
Install filtering software on their devices to prevent
access to indecent websites
Install monitoring software
Monitor children’s online activities through SMSs
Monitoring (Cronbach’s Alpha=.597)
Set agreements with children about using time
Check children’s smartphone/tablet
Confiscate their devices as punishment

9. • Most school children also reported that they were happy with
their experience in using the smartphone.
• They thought that it could enhance their knowledge, allowed
them to understand new technology, and improved their
communication with others

10. DEPENDENT VARIABLE: CONFIDENCE IN HELPING CHILDREN TO
ACHIEVE THE POSITIVE OBJECTIVES
Model Variables Entered
1 Children’s
factor
age, gender
2 frequency in searching for
information/homework, gaming,
entertainment, telephone
3 smartphone dependence, positive
usage
4 Parent’s
factor
smartphone/tablet proficiency,
gender, new arrival status,
educational attainment,
school performance perceived

11. B Std.
Error
Beta t
(Constant) 1.976 .406 4.867***
Children’s gender -.067 .052 -.043 -1.286
Children’s age -.003 .015 -.007 -.231
Searching information/homework .056 .023 .074 2.433*
Gaming -.043 .019 -.071 -2.227*
Entertainment .010 .022 .015 .447
Telephone .051 .022 .073 2.282*
Dependence -.038 .029 -.038 -1.298
Positive usage .123 .040 .092 3.080*
Parents’ educational attainment 0.00 .015 .000 .002
Parents’ gender .017 .051 .010 .340
Parents’ smartphone/tablet
proficiency
.044 .030 .044
1.470
New arrival status (parents) -.343 .108 -.093 -3.175**
School performance perceived by
parents
.266 .034 .240
7.921***
Parental involvement .401 .053 .234 7.634***
R Square = .199, Adjusted R Square =
.188)

12. • Every generation has its own sources of tension between parents
and children.
• The use of smartphone is probably the most difficult one to handle
because children’s presence at home does not make it easier to
get them to do what the parents prefer, and to keep them away
from troubles as were expected by most parents before the
invention of smartphone.
• Parental involvement in the early stage will improve the confidence
of parents in helping their children in make positive use of the
smartphone.