JACKSONVILLE, AL – Research co-authored by Jacksonville State University Associate Professor of Computer Science Dr. Arup Ghosh has received the 2026 USEC Test of Time Award, recognizing the continued relevance and impact of research examining parental controls and teen online safety.
The paper, titled “Parental Control vs. Teen Self-Regulation: Is There a Middle Ground for Mobile Online Safety?”, was originally published at the 2017 ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW). The study explored how mobile parental-control applications address adolescent online safety and the balance between parental oversight and helping teenagers develop independent skills to manage online risks.
As part of the research, the team analyzed 75 Android applications designed to promote adolescent online safety. Researchers identified 42 distinct features and categorized them using the Teen Online Safety Strategies (TOSS) framework.
The analysis found that 89% of the identified features focused on parental control, including monitoring and restricting online activities. The remaining 11% supported teen self-regulation through features involving self-monitoring, impulse control, and risk management.
Ghosh recalled the extensive examination of applications involved in the research process.
“I remember going through app stores, installing the parental-control applications available at the time, and examining each one to understand its functionality. We used a grounded approach to identify and catalog 42 distinct features and map them to the TOSS framework,” Ghosh said. “That detailed process helped us understand what these applications offered and where opportunities existed to better support teenagers’ online safety.”
The TOSS framework emphasizes the importance of combining parental guidance with opportunities for teenagers to develop the ability to recognize and respond to online risks independently.
The research identified a disparity between applications designed primarily for parental monitoring and those providing tools to help teenagers develop their own online safety skills. Its findings suggest opportunities for technology developers to incorporate features that encourage independent decision-making, risk awareness, and responsible digital behavior alongside traditional parental controls.
Nearly a decade after its original publication, the research continues to address questions surrounding adolescent digital safety, privacy, and autonomy. These issues remain relevant to families, researchers, technology companies, and policymakers as they consider approaches to protecting young people in digital environments.
The 2026 USEC Test of Time Award recognizes the research’s enduring contributions to discussions about online safety and the design of technologies intended to support adolescents.
The original research paper is available through the ACM Digital Library.
