PARENTAL CONCERNS REGARDING YOUNG CHILDREN AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY. AN EXPLORATORY QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION IN THREE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

One of the effects of the development and widespread diffusion of digital technologies is that in contemporary homes children are being exposed to those technologies since birth. The present study aims to identify the general 'climate of concern' and to map specific worries that parents ha...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inRevista română de sociologie Vol. 30; no. 3/4; pp. 1 - 18
Main Authors Velicu, Anca, Chaudron, Stephane, Dias, Patrícia, Brito, Rita, Lobe, Bojana
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bucuresti Institutul de Sociologie al Academiei Romane 01.05.2019
Subjects
Academic achievement
Childhood factors
Children
Children & youth
Data collection
Digital broadcasting
Digital media
Digital technology
Families & family life
Internet access
Learning
Mediation
Parents & parenting
Researchers
Social exclusion
Technology
Theory
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:One of the effects of the development and widespread diffusion of digital technologies is that in contemporary homes children are being exposed to those technologies since birth. The present study aims to identify the general 'climate of concern' and to map specific worries that parents have with respect to their young children's digital lives. The study was theoretically framed by the intersection of parental mediation theory with media panics theory, and relied on data collected in three European countries (Portugal, Romania and Slovenia) as part of JRC project Young Children (0-8) and digital technologies. The data were collected in 2015, through family visits, this paper focusing on semi structured interviews that took place with parents. The results show that parents of children under 8 years old are concerned about health-related issues, screen addiction, exposure to age-inappropriate content, social exclusion by absence or under use of digital media, concerns of losing opportunities for essential (non-digital) childhood experiences, bad school performance and learning the "right" skills for the future. If some of these concerns echo public discourse on the risks of technology, parents in our study trimmed these fears and adjusted them to their current situation and their parental mediation practices.
ISSN:1224-9262
2392-8549