máximo del

depends on more general norms and practices of parenting.

One of the prevalent models for pa- rental style nowadays is the matrix proposed by Valcke et al. (2010), which relates parental mediation of This study has enabled researchers to

highlight a fifth strategy that parents use to manage the digital engage- ment of their young children: active distraction. This strategy sees parents proposing to their children attractive off-line activities as an alternative to digital activities, such as outdoor play or family play. This could be seen as being part of the restriction strategies, where parents instead of setting rules to limit time of use of digital technol- ogy that children more or less respect, adopt a positive strategy of limiting digital technology time by proposing alternative activities that seem more attractive to the children: outdoor play, family play, family outing. Chil- dren will be more inclined to accept those alternative activities if they so- cially involve other children or other family members.

Researchers report the following about a single child and single parent Swiss family of a 7 years old boy: The mother initiates all outdoor activi- ties together, if it’s up to him, he wants to play computer games. [In the card game facilitating the interview, the boy] put the activity Playing outside between I like ok and I don’t like (Swiss National Report).

Or this Bulgarian family, also single- child and single-parent:

[The mother] underlined that she wor- ries most about [her daughter aged 8] excessive use of digital devices. She there- fore tries to keep her busy and interested in a range of offline hobbies (Bulgarian National Report).

Also, this young boy from Romania has a very clear understanding of his mother’ strategy.

digital technologies to the overall parenting styles, based on Baumrind and others’ work (e.g. Baumrind, 1991). This model was used as theo- retical grounding of the coding proto- col of this study.

The authors defined two axes of pa- rental mediation regarding internet use (extended here to digital technol- ogy use) at home-parental control and parental warmth-leading to a matrix of four mediation styles (Figure 5). 1. Authoritative: parents set clear

rules and explain them, in order to foster responsible behaviour and self-regulation; the most common rule is setting a specific amount of time for using digital media; but they may also consider content and context.

2. Authoritarian: parents set rules without explanations and expect obedience, they are not open to dialogue and impose their own perceptions and views towards digital media;

3. Permissive: parents do not set explicit limits but monitor oc- casionally and negotiate with the children, rarely guiding or teach- ing, but rather reacting to solici- tations from the children; 4. Laissez-faire: parents do not con-

trol or engage with their children’s digital practices, they do not in- terfere at all.

Referring to Baumrind’s (1991) analysis of parenting styles, Valcke et al. (2010) show that authoritative parents tend to combine mediation strategies - including active media- tion, social restrictions and technical restrictions - all more frequently than

other parents. This is also the case in our study where this model of parent- ing has been the most frequently iden- tified in the sample.

Families who adopted authoritative mediation style are concerned about controlling the apps installed by chil- dren, time of use and monitoring the visualized contents. However, the rules regarding time limits vary: there are parents who limit their children’s use of digital devices on weekdays, in the morning or before bedtime, with a time limit, which ranges from 15, 20, 30 minutes to one or two hours a day, though during the weekend they

allow more hours spent on these de- vices. Parent’s perceptions about tech- nologies explain this range of limits: the better the perceptions, more time children can use technologies.

Most parents realize that some online content may not be appropriate for children, so they monitor content on TV and on mobile devices. If children are watching inappropriate programs on TV, parents ask them to change and see something (preferably) educa- tional. The same happens for apps: if parents find their content to be inap- propriate (usually violent), they unin- stall them from the devices.

PERMISSIVE

Parenting style and mediation strategies PARENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

No rules Negotiation Support Rules Monitoring Support No rules No support “Babysitter” Rules Control No support Warm support Demand control AUTHORITATIVE

LAISSEZ - FAIRE AUTHORITARIAN

++

+/-

+/-

-/+

Parenting style and mediation strategies in relation to the parents’ per- ceptions of digital technology, based on Valcke et al. (2010).

Source: European Commission

It was curious to note that some au- thoritative parents report themselves to use technologies intensively, being incoherent with the style of parental mediation they hold. Others use tech- nology intensively outside home and control their use when they are with the family, so they can be consistent with their children's rules.

These authoritative parents have both positive and negative perceptions of technologies. Although they consider them relevant for their children's de- velopment, useful for school activities and stimulating critical thinking, they also have the opinion that it is impor-

is not suitable for their age. Parents of a family from the Netherlands described their mediation choice as ‘freedom within boundaries’.

The less frequent parental style was the laissez-faire. The majority of the families that are driven by this paren- tal style are of a low economic status or have little availability for caring children but intense use of technolo- gies.

Parents are not concerned about the use of devices by their children and do not supervise it as in this Portuguese family for which researchers noted the following,

When questioned about the kind of games her son likes, the mother appeared not to be aware of the activities he per- forms with the mobile devices.

or this note about a Swiss family, The mother is pretty informed about pos- sible health issues linked to heavy media use (...) and the lack of long term stud- ies about consequences of digital media use for cognitive functioning. Neverthe- less, she takes into account that her son spends the majority of free time with digital media to give herself the freedom to advance her career, which she sees as an investment in her family’s future. Children use them whenever they want, until the battery literally runs out. Parents are unaware of the po- tential of these technologies and pos- sible risks as well as the activities that children perform on the devices and they tend to use tablets as effective ‘babysitters’ that keep the children entertained while the parents are busy with house chores or work more than other parents. In fact, we recognise here that those families lack most of tant to encourage other kind of activi-

ties, especially the outdoors, such as being in contact with nature (i.e., go- ing to the forest or to the beach). Along with the authoritative style, but less represented, is the permissive style. This style is influenced by par- ents' positive perceptions about the use of technology by their children. Parents are active users and they con- sider that their children do not make excessive use of technology. Children can use the devices whenever they like, although several parents worry how much time they spend on the devices or if they access content that

PERMISSIVE No rules

Support RulesSupport

No rules

No support RulesNo support

Warm support

Resources: time & knowledge

AUTHORITATIVE

LAISSEZ - FAIRE AUTHORITARIAN

The relations between parenting style and mediation strategies as cat- egorised by Valcke et al. (2010) and parents’ availability of time and knowledge as resources.

Source: European Commission

resources, both time and knowledge, to effectvely made informed parental choices ... showing other media- tion styles. We therefore integrate an axe 'time & knowledge' in the model (Figure 6) showing that beyond per- ception towards digital technology, resources are key elements influencing parental mediation styles...

The authoritarian style was the least present. Although practiced in more countries than the laissez-faire style, its frequency was low in most of them. Nevertheless, it was the most identi- fied in Croatia, Slovenia and Switzer- land. These parents enforce rules such as time of use or restricted apps, re- stricting behaviour that they consider inappropriate, without negotiating them with their children. Rules are non-negotiable.

‘I think when it comes to digital media, my rules count and I don’t have to ask her (the child) about it.’ - Swiss mother Some parents are keen to accompany their children when they use the in- ternet fearing that they have access to inappropriate content, directing them to other activities that do not involve electronics, such as going outdoors, be it playing in a garden or doing sports. Confronting families’ characteristics with their respective parental media- tion style shows that parents’ educa- tional background matters. Less educated parents tend to provide less warm support to use digital technol- ogy while also exerting less control. Our study tends to corroborate also the results of Nikken and Schols (2015) showing how lower-educated parents, who are less skilled at using digital media, engage in less active mediation of their children’s internet

SOCIAL ECONOMIC BACKGROUND SOCIAL NORMS DIGITAL INTEGRATION IN SOCIETY DIGITAL INTEGRATION IN SCHOOL EXPERIENCES CONFIDENCE ATTITUDES SKILLS KNOWLEDGE Influencing elements Parental perceptions Parental mediation Children’s use of digital technology at home

Influencing elements of parental perceptions towards digital technology, key to parental mediation strategies and therefore to children’s use of digital technology in the home context.

Source: European Commission

use, set inconsistent rules to regulate use, and more often use technical re- strictions.

This analysis based on parenting style theory shows that parental mediation and the balance between mediation strategies is different from one family to another and depends on numerous factors (Figure 7) beside the general parenting style.

First, among those factors are parents’ own knowledge of, and confidence with, technology itself, as already identified in previous studies (Clark, 2011).

Second, parenting styles, perceptions, imaginaries (expectations or worries) and discourses are also at the basis of the strategies by which parents’ guide their children’s interaction with tab- lets, smartphones and apps, and in so doing support or hinder their learn- ing. Our research corroborates in this point other studies on early childhood education (Marsh et al., 2015; Plow- man et al., 2008; 2010).

This study tends also to show, in agreement with (Livingstone et al., 2015; Mascheroni, Livingstone, Dreier, & Chaudron, 2016, p. 263) recently, how these expectations, wor- ries and practices vary according to parents’ education, socioeconomic background, and parenting culture. Finally, the international sample of the study allowed cross-national anal- ysis, which suggests the importance of social and cultural norms of the soci- ety the parents live in as a factor of in- fluence of parental mediation. What is desirable may vary from a country to another, from social group to an- other. Evidence from the US shows

1.3.4

Parents between