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IAMCR 2015
14th July 2015 Montreal
Sonia Livingstone
Stephane Chaudron
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As ever younger kids go online, how are European families responding: focus on socio-economic status
Sonia Livingstone, Giovanna Mascheroni, Michael Dreier & Stephane Chaudron
www.jrc.ec.europa.euwww.eukidsonline.net
Children are growing up digitally
April 2013 Terrelfamilyfun.com
Children use digital technology from infancy
3April 15, 2023
4April 15, 2023
JRC 0-8 Pilot Study - 2014
7
countries
70 families
Chaudron S., Beutel M.E, Černikova M., Donoso Navarette V., Dreier M., Fletcher-Watson B., Heikkilä A-S., Kontríková V., Korkeamäki R-L., Livingstone S., Marsh J., Mascheroni G., Micheli M., Milesi D., Müller K.W. , Myllylä-Nygård T., Niska M., Olkina O., Ottovordemgentschenfelde S., Plowman L., Ribbens W., Richardson J., Schaack C. , Shlyapnikov V., Šmahel D., Soldatova G. and Wölfling K. (2015) Young Children (0-8) and digital technology: A qualitative exploratory study across seven countries. http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC93239
• How are parents of very young children managing or mediating their children’s digital activities?
• Are there important socioeconomic variations in the type and amount of mediation?
• How can parents of young children be better supported as they approach the task of parental mediation?
Aims
Social class <-> understanding of good parenting in US context (Clark, 2013) exportable in EU?
‘ethic of expressive empowerment’ of upper and middle-class parents
-> raising self-confidence
vs‘ethic of respectful connectedness’ -> following parental authority
in EU context ?
Why social class ?
• 10 families in each country
• Each with a 6/7 year old and younger
• Whole family interview
• Parent interview
• Child interview and observation
• Child games, drawings, media tour etc.
Method
Families and social class
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Lower income, less educated
• Relatively high device ownership at home• An ‘ethic of respectful connectedness’ in overall
parenting values• A generation gap in ICT expertise between parents and
children, especially among immigrant families• More restrictive parental mediation strategies
regarding digital devices, yet parents who are rather ambivalent and worried about ICTs.
• “We have friends who let their children watch TV while having breakfast alone in the kitchen, while mum and dad get dressed, and you can see at school they are already brainwashed I would say. I know it is exaggerated, but they are dumb, like hypnotised. That’s why I set the rule.” (Italian parent)
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Lower income, more educated• A mix of media-rich and media-poor homes in terms
of device ownership• A variety of domestic circumstances with a high
proportion of single-parent households• Fairly confident parents in terms of both their ICT
skills and thus their ability to prioritise active over restrictive mediation.
• “The youngest [3 yr old girl] watches DVDs that are actually intended for six-year-olds with her sister. There are often Disney movies in which there might be a scary moment. But that is guided of course. But then I say, you know there is always a happy ending but we need to go through this part. So, then we discuss that. But, otherwise I think those [movies] are fine.” (Belgian parent)
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Higher income, more educated• An ‘ethic of expressive empowerment’ in
parenting values
• A wide range of diverse mediation practices including different strategies to manage restrictions for digital device use
• Efforts to promote offline (non-digital) activities for children while limiting digital activities in the home
• Parents who work with ICTs or from home using ICTs often find their own practices undermine their efforts to limit their children’s ICT use
“If she watches Laura’s Star and the main character is in danger, although she knows that there will be a happy ending, I have to be at her side. She couldn’t watch it alone. It is the same with books. One cannot simply read every one book to her, especially in the evening. Bedtime stories including, for instance a wolf or bad things is a no-go for her. Accordingly watching TV is regulated in the same manner. Most of the time she loses interest anyway after half an hour of watching TV.” (German parent)
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Conclusions• Clark’s ethics of empowerment and respectfulness fit
higher/lower SES families in Europe well (better than alternative theories?)
• Many European families have higher education/lower income, and these more fit the empowerment model
• Parental expertise with and interest in digital media is a crucial factor that cuts across SES differences
• Support for parental digital expertise and interest might be the effective way of supporting lower SES families
• Even higher educated families would benefit from guidance on how digital media can be used to empower their children
• Parents prefer to receive support from their child’s nursery/school yet this is rarely on offer
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Thank you!
April 15, 2023
The European Commission’s in-house science service
The European Commission’s in-house science service
www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Digital Citizen Security UnitInstitute for the Protection andSecurity of the Citizen
A study founded and coordinated by
Contact: [email protected]:http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC93239
Young Children (0-8) & Digital Technology
