Parents face many difficulties in todays hyperconnected world. How can they guide their children through the magical and insidious realm that isInternet if they can’t comprehend it? In the dynamic online societies that are social media today, new trends emerge and vanish within days or even hours, making it seemingly impossible to categorize them and discern if they can influence positively or negatively young people. Parental control software seems like a good choice to filter these different contents, but even for these technologies is hard to stay ahead of what’s going on online.
A straightforward tactic to comprehend online activities and their potential impact on children is to experience them firsthand. Parents who aspire to stay in sync with the ever-evolving digital landscape cannot afford to overlook this responsibility. The key question for them is just one though: “How can I stay informed when time is scarce?” One possible solution lies in transforming solitary moments into shared experiences for both parent and child.
The term co-use refers to parent and child accessing digital technologies jointly, without the parent resorting to criticism [1]. This behavior can en compass different shared experiences such as streaming together media or playing a videogame. One can easily see how these communal moments can help both the parents and the children. These interactions can be occasions to bond and interact with one another. Specifically, parents can surveille what children are watching or doing in real-time and provide them with useful insights. Here it’s fundamental to state that these insights cannot be overly critic though.That is, a parent that focuses only on the negative aspects of what the child is doing will probably create discord in the relationship. If children feel that their parents don’t understand them, they may also choose not to discuss their online experiences anymore, thereby hindering parents’ insight into important parts of today’s childhood [2]. Indeed, research report mixed findings about the effectiveness of co-using. Some studies report that co-use is directly related to less media use, and that it protects children from media related risks [3, 4]. Nevertheless, other research state that co-using has no clear impact on problematic media use [1]. These results may seem contradictory, but they really are not. Co-using is a perfect approach when it comes to child safety: in fact, parents can intercept in real time possible risky situations and instruct their children incase these were to repeat themselves. At the same time though, using these technologies with parents might give children the feeling that these behaviors are endorsed encouraging them to further play or consume media. In this context, it’s imperative to stress once again the fundamental role that parents play in teaching their children the correct behavior around these instruments.Furthermore, co-using requires parents to put in a lot of time and efforts, resources that unfortunately not everyone has. Parents that want to be informed in what their children are doing might decide to go a completely different route, and still be effective
Parents that use media monitoring might have less time to spend with their children, but they still want to be invested in them growing up. In fact, parental monitoring concerns parents’ actions to keep track of when and how much time adolescents spend using media, what they do with it, and with whom [5]. This is a more reactive approach, with parents controlling what sites their children visit, or with whom they are talking with. This does not mean that parental monitoring cannot be used as a preventive measure though. In fact, by regularly controlling their children’s media habits and taking into account their offline behaviors, parents can sense potential issues and take appropriate action. This approach has been proven effective, with research suggesting that parental monitoring is associated with reduced rates of online harassment for children [6]. Furthermore, it seems that parental monitoring of children’s and adolescents' gaming habits performs a protective role in the development of gaming disorder symptoms in young people [7]. Nevertheless, other studies reportless consistent results, especially for adolescents [1]. Thus, parental monitoring might enable parents to intervene before problematic media usage becomes established.However, if symptoms have already manifested, this approach may not yield beneficial outcomes. This rationale is logical as parental monitoring alone does not warrant parents to act on their children media use, thus it could be useful to complement it with other mediation strategies.
In conclusion, parents can and should use multiple approaches when it comes to their children online safety. Co-using, shared digital experiences between parents and children, provides real-time insight into the online world and fosters connection. Although time intensive, this method promotes moments of real understanding between parent and child, allowing them to bond and create a shared environment in which they can come together. Alternatively, parental monitoring, often using parental control software, offers a more detached strategy, allowing parents to intervene only when they feel the need to. Despite differing approaches and methodologies, both strategies highlight the vital role of parental involvement in surveilling the digital landscape in which today’s youth live in. As technology advances, parents must follow along to foster their children’s growth.
1. Nielsen P, Favez N, Liddle H, Rigter H (2019) Linking parental mediation practices to adolescents’ problematic online screen use: A systematic literature review. Journal of Behavioral Addictions 8:649–663.
2. Lafton T, Wilhelmsen JEB, Holmarsdottir HB (2024) Parental mediation and children’s digital well-being in family life in Norway. Journal of Children and Media 0:1–18.
3. Padilla-Walker LM, Coyne SM, KroffSL, Memmott-Elison MK (2018) The Protective Role of Parental Media Monitoring Style from Early to Late Adolescence. J Youth Adolescence 47:445–459.
4. Chen L, Shi J (2019) Reducing Harm From Media: A Meta-Analysis of Parental Mediation. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 96:173–193.
5. Beyens I, Keijsers L, Coyne SM(2022) Social media, parenting, and well-being. Current Opinion in Psychology 47:101350.
6. Khurana A, Bleakley A, Jordan AB, Romer D (2015) The Protective Effects of Parental Monitoring and Internet Restriction on Adolescents’ Risk of Online Harassment. J Youth Adolescence 44:1039–1047.
7. Donati MA, Guido CA, De Meo G, etal (2021) Gaming among Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Lockdown: The Role of Parents in Time Spent on Video Games and Gaming Disorder Symptoms. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18:6642.
