“I Don’t Really Trust My Parents They’ll Just Take My iPad”: Children’s and Parents’ Perspectives of Digital Experiences Online, a Corpus-Assisted Analysis

Abstract There has been growing interest in how digital technology affects children and young people, often based on adult perspectives and quantitative data, like screen time and wellbeing. However, recent research and policy highlight the importance of children’s own views on their digital lives (Barnardos, 2024; OECD, 2025). Despite this shift, few studies explore how adult representations align with children’s lived experiences. This study addresses that gap by analysing 63 qualitative studies using Corpus Linguistics to compare language used by children and parents. Two corpora—Children and Parent—were examined for thematic patterns. While both groups frequently used similar nouns and adjectives, their framing differed. For instance, the word time appeared in both, but parents focused on control and limits, whereas children emphasized activities and relationships. These findings reveal contrasting contextual understandings of digital engagement between adults and children.