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An exploration on long-distance communications between left-behind children and their parents in China

Published: 23 February 2013 Publication History

Abstract

In China, hundreds of millions of migrant workers have moved to cities or coastal regions for more or better-paid jobs and have left their children behind at their rural homes. Separated by thousands of kilometers, these "left-behind" children and their migrant parents use mobile phones as their primary - and often only - method of maintaining family connections. To better understand the use of technology in this long-distance communication, we conducted a multi-phased study using interviews and surveys in three different Chinese rural areas. In this paper, we report our findings on how these children communicate with their migrant parents and what information they exchange. We also discuss design implications derived from these findings that may improve communication between left-behind children and their parents.

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  • (2024)Unpacking ICT-supported Social Connections and Support of Late-life Migration: From the Lens of Social ConvoysProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642898(1-15)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
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    cover image ACM Conferences
    CSCW '13: Proceedings of the 2013 conference on Computer supported cooperative work
    February 2013
    1594 pages
    ISBN:9781450313315
    DOI:10.1145/2441776
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    Published: 23 February 2013

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    Author Tags

    1. left-behind children
    2. long-distance communication
    3. mobile mediated contact

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    February 23 - 27, 2013
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    • (2024)Unpacking ICT-supported Social Connections and Support of Late-life Migration: From the Lens of Social ConvoysProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642898(1-15)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
    • (2024)Design With Rural-To-Urban Migrant Women: Opportunities and Challenges in Designing within a Precarious Marriage Context in South ChinaProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3641990(1-14)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
    • (2022)The bright side of digitization: Assessing the impact of mobile phone domestication on left-behind children in China's rural migrant familiesFrontiers in Psychology10.3389/fpsyg.2022.100337913Online publication date: 19-Oct-2022
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    • (2021)Designing Technologies to Support Parent-Child Relationships: A Review of Current Findings and Suggestions for Future DirectionsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/34795855:CSCW2(1-31)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2021
    • (2021)Computer-Mediated Peer Support Needs of Home Care Workers: Emotional Labor & the Politics of ProfessionalismProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/34760775:CSCW2(1-32)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2021
    • (2020)Left behind, not alone: feeling, function and neurophysiological markers of self-expansion among left-behind children and not left-behind peersSocial Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience10.1093/scan/nsaa062Online publication date: 4-May-2020
    • (2017)Navigating Media UseProceedings of the 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems10.1145/3064663.3064701(1025-1037)Online publication date: 10-Jun-2017
    • (2015)A multilevel analysis of the relationship between parental migration and left-behind children’s macronutrient intakes in rural ChinaPublic Health Nutrition10.1017/S136898001500334119:11(1913-1927)Online publication date: 8-Dec-2015
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