Before I started my PhD, I worked in early years settings, both in the UK and Hong Kong and have spent my whole adult life working with and for families in these settings. Even though the curriculum can look very different in these countries, one thing remains the same – developing positive relationships is crucial for a young child’s development. While I was working alongside so many families, my thoughts about relationships deepened, and I wanted to understand more about how these relationships are created from the very beginning. This is how my PhD journey started.
I put my hands up here and admit – I am a phone addict. I am constantly on my phone, flipping through Instagram, checking my Twitter, sending memes back and forth to my friends on Whatsapp… And don’t get me started on how many times I close an app, only to immediately reopen it. Smartphone apps are designed to suck us in. And I recognise that this might affect my relationships if I let it. I wanted to know more about how people use their phones, and why
And so, I decided to bring together these two concepts – to look at how mothers are using their phones and how this might affect their relationships with their babies. This was my initial idea for a PhD.
But the more I looked at the data, and the more I spoke with mothers about their phone use, the more I felt that the real issue here isn’t just about how relationships are affected. There are so many more issues to consider than that. This PhD does look at the relationships between mother and infants. It also looks at why and how mothers use their phones, and importantly, what support needs to be in place for mothers with young infants.
Mums feel guilt. Constantly. But mothers, just like everyone else in society, use their phones for a number of important reasons; from tracking their babies development, keeping up to date with family members, to reaching out for much needed support or a well earned break. And so, it is not my aim to add to that guilt, but rather to work with mums and babies to give them a voice, and find solutions that work for the whole family. This PhD is just the start of that.
