Parental strategies for limiting youths’ exposure to online risks
From Firenze University Press Journal: Media Education
Maria Clara Cavallini, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Simona Caravita, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
The fast spread of use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) by youths has increased the likelihood of their exposure to online risks. Research on parental mediation of children’s Internet use is now beginning to consider the effectiveness of parental strategies in protecting children from exposure and perpetration of online risky behaviours. Nevertheless, we still need to identify the most effective ones.This study aims to analyze the literature of the last ten years on the issue of parental mediation of the use of the Internet and ICTs.
The purpose of this review is to understand whether and how mediation strategies and communication between parents and their children can decrease youth’s exposure to ICT risks and their perpetration of online without limiting their opportunities to learn from the Web. Through this synthesis, mediation strategies can be suggested to parents, leading to a safer way for children to use new technologies. As recommended by evidence-based practices, the Prisma check-list (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) was used.
1.1 Online risks
Today’s world presents some unique and new risks for the sexuality, intimacy and aggressiveness of youth (Machimbarrena et al., 2018).
Children, in fact, more and more precociously, become part of a system in which communication is mediated by digital and ICT tools. Data from a Spanish study, for example, show that children start using mobile phones on average at the age of 7 years (Del Rio et al., 2019). In developing countries, such as Mexico, a survey has found that, although not all young people have their own computer or mobile phone, 100% of respondents between 12 and 16 years declared to use the Internet (Gutiérrez et al., 2013). Smartphones and tablets offer children the opportunity to communicate with parents, socialize with friends, learn, develop creativity and have fun (Goggin & Hjorth, 2014). Research has also shown that the use of social media in adolescence can be helpful for the development of social skills, empathy (Vossen & Valkenburg, 2016) and problem-solving abilities (Adachi & Willough-by, 2013).
Furthermore, access to the Internet has been increasingly conceived as a basic tool for children’s rights, because children’s relationship with the world today is developed, to a large extent, through the network (Third et al., 2014). In fact, many of the dimensions of child well-being contained in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) can be associated with the availability or lack of access to the Internet: it allows children to search for the information they may need, helps them reach free education and to have life models even far from those they experience daily, getting hopes and equal opportunities for their development.A threat of the digital age, however, is represented by a possible problematic use of technological devices, especially related to the parents’ inability to control the time spent on the net, the activities and contents that can be encountered online and that can have repercussions on children’s social life or self-esteem (Spada, 2014).There are three main categories of online risks: con-tact, content and conduct risks (Livingstone, 2019). The risks of contact include being lured or subjected to bullying, harassment or stalking.
Content risks include vis-iting websites or inappropriate images that incite hatred, suicide, violence or thinness (García et al., 2014). Finally, conduct risks include the perpetration of cyber-bullying or harassment, the creation and the online uploading of pornographic material, gambling, illegal downloads, or providing advice on dangerous topics such as anorexia or suicide.In a recent study, Kowalski et al. (2018) emphasize that among the most common consequences of cyber-bullying there are problems in terms of emotional and behavioural regulation, substance use and reduction in self-esteem. Even sexting, i.e., voluntarily sending photos or videos of sexual content, is a relatively common behaviour among adolescents. A study in south-eastern Texas found that, among 964 adolescents 27.6% of the sample sent their own sex photos (Temple et al., 2012).
For some adolescents, sexting can be a normal part of their development and sexual experimentation (Barrense-Dias et al., 2017). This behaviour, however, remains an important public health problem because it involves a risk for the reputation and it has been found to be associated with other risky behaviours such as the use of drugs, risky sexual behaviour and cyberbullying (Rice et al., 2014).Improper use of the new forms of communication can also affect children’s health, making them more sedentary and more likely to go to bed late, skip meals, eat in front of the computer (Gür et al.,2015), and some-times it can lead to problems of psychological maladjust-ment and dependence (Horner et al., 2015).
1.2 Parents in the digital world
Social learning theory states that parental behaviour can influence and shape attitudes and thoughts of children (Bandura, 1977). This also occurs with regard to new media. Parents who watch, comment, and/or control children’s use of the Internet and ICTs express explicit or implicit messages of approval or disapproval that remain relevant for children’s risk assessment.The main parenting techniques used to limit web risks are: restrictive mediation, active mediation and co-vision (Valkenburg et al.,1999).Restrictive mediation occurs when parents impose rules that limit the time spent on the media (TV, vide-ogames or the Internet) or the content that the child can access (ibid).Active (or evaluative) mediation occurs when parents discuss with their children the risks of the web or other central issues related to the use of Internet and social networks, ICTs and media behaviours, such as the choices of a character or the consequences of an impulsive action, with the intent to promote their critical thinking (Glatz et al.,2018).Finally, co-vision (or co-use) consists of using the media together with the child and includes two sub-groups: intentional co-viewing, when parents assist children during browsing, and passive co-viewing, when par-ents are in the same room while their child or teenager uses the media (Chakroff & Nathanson, 2008).
Parental involvement through awareness (Bass, 2016) and protection practices (Anderson, 2016) can be a protective factor against the various risks associated with the ICTs use. In the case of cyberbullying, for example, parental involvement in preventive programs can be beneficial for children both in terms of stopping the phenomenon and in terms of emotional support (Fridh et al., 2015; Özdemir 2014).It is not yet clear, however, to what extent, and on what age group and gender, the different parental mediation strategies are effective in promoting a safe use of ICTs by young people. An in-depth analysis of the exist-ing literature can be the starting point to provide correct information on this topic and develop interventions for children and parents.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/me-10474
Read Full Text: https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/med/article/view/10474
