Sharenthood

“Unlike accounts either demonizing or defending social media, Plunkett charts an original course in asking adults, and urging law, to embrace youth as a time for experimentation. This book offers tools to empower youth and a nuanced, cogent assessment of the challenges in protecting privacy in the digital age.” – Rachel Rebouché, Associate Dean for Research, Professor of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law; author of Governance Feminism: An Introduction, and Family Law (6th edition).

“Plunkett, a lawyer with experience defending young clients, provides a much-needed perspective on the rise of ‘sharenting,’ which she defines as the sharing of a child’s private information through digital platforms. With an eye for history, a critique of the US legal system, and a penchant for storytelling, in this book she offers parents, caregivers, educators, and citizens important insights on how best to navigate the digital terrain.” – Lynn Schofield Clark, author of The Parent App: Understanding Families in a Digital Age

“In Sharenthood, Leah Plunkett deftly explores the challenges inherent in raising children in the digital age, from the unique perspective of a legal scholar. Rather than fear-mongering about what anonymous bad guys might do to our children, she notes what we, ourselves, as parents already are doing every day — often for no reward greater than ‘likes.’ The book is a bracing and provocative look at the present and a prescient warning about our potential futures.” – Dorothy Fortenberry, writer/producer, The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu

“A fascinating and frightening addition to the literature on the technological reconstruction of childhood and parenting. Plunkett details how taken-for-granted adult data-sharing behaviors, legally sanctioned and cynically encouraged by tech companies, constrain what our children are and can become. She sounds a loud warning — and proposes a significant cultural reorientation. We would be wise to listen!”– Joshua Meyrowitz, Professor Emeritus of Media Studies, University of New Hampshire; author of No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior

Leah Plunkett is Associate Dean for Administration, Associate Professor of Legal Skills, and Director of Academic Success at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. She is Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

John Palfrey is Head of School at Phillips Academy, Andover, coauthor of Born Digital: How Children Grow Up in a Digital Age, and author of the MIT Press Essential Knowledge volume Intellectual Property Strategy.

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