Reconceptualizing digital playing: an exploration of children’s naive theories of smartphones within the context of global regulatory policies

This study investigates children’s understandings of smartphones and their usage configurations in the context of emerging global policies aimed at regulating young people’s smartphone use. Drawing on China’s early implementation of similar regulatory initiatives, we conducted in-depth interviews with children to explore how they conceptualize smartphones in their everyday lives. Coding analysis reveals that children possess differentiated concepts of smartphones.

These include “everyday concepts” derived from children’s lived experiences and what this study analytically terms “scientific concepts,” referring to more structured, school-mediated, or institutionally transmitted discourses about smartphone structures, mechanisms, and risks. Building on these findings, the study employs the cognitive–affective–conative (CAC) framework to analyze children’s smartphone usage tendencies, highlighting the crucial role of emotional experience in shaping usage intentions. The analysis further explores how children reinterpret the meaning of “playing with smartphones.” These findings provide insights into the development of targeted media education interventions that build on children’s existing understandings while addressing potential misconceptions.

This study situates children’s cognition of smartphones within the global research framework on children’s digital rights, offering empirical insights into how children engage with digital technologies as meaning-makers. We would like to thank XL, LZ, and PF for their helpful support and assistance during the research process. This study was supported by the Youth Fund for Humanities and Social Sciences Program of the Ministry of Education of China, under the project titled “Research on Intergenerational Media View Differences and Evolution Mechanisms” (No. 20YJC860026), as well as by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities at the University of International Business and Economics (22QD18).

We gratefully acknowledge this support. Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China The authors declare no competing interests. This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

The study protocol was reviewed and approved on 8 May 2023 by the Committee Review Board of the School of Journalism and Communication at Beijing Normal University (Ethics Approval No. The scope of approval covered the study’s objectives, content, investigative procedures, and participant involvement. Written informed consent was obtained from the legal guardians of all participating children, and verbal assent was obtained from the child participants prior to data collection.

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