Technology is becoming an indispensable part of our lives, and no matter how old we are, we cannot escape it. Today's children are growing up in environments where they are constantly exposed to screens, and they are becoming screen users earlier and earlier.
Since it is usually the parents who introduce a child to screen-based devices and their role is to help the child develop healthy habits with technology and ensure that appropriate and quality content is viewed, parenting strategies are an important intervention target for developing healthy habits with screen-based devices and technology.
In theoretical terms, we first introduced early childhood and its importance for further development. We defined screen devices and described the reasons for using screen devices, the positive and negative aspects of their use and the consequences of their use. We have highlighted the types and characteristics of the content viewed and their importance and provided guidelines for selecting quality content. We have outlined the role of parents in the use of screen devices and viewed content, as they have a significant influence on children's digital experiences.
In the context of controlling and limiting technology, we often focus on how much screen time children should be allowed to spend, but we overlook the important question of what they should be watching. The study therefore focussed on the content most frequently viewed by three-year-olds, the methods and rules used to check the appropriateness of this content, the strategies chosen to control usage and content viewed, and their effectiveness. We compared the results by mothers' level of education and children's gender and analysed whether these demographic factors influence the choice of strategies and the consistency of the rules. To this end, we created an online questionnaire that was completed by 106 mothers with at least one child aged between 3;0 and 3;11 years.
We found that Slovenian three-year-olds most often watch cartoons such as Peppa Pig, PAW Patrol and other content on RTV Živ žav. Mothers actively check the appropriateness of the accompanying content and mostly rely on their own judgement when watching the content. They recognise content with violent elements, inappropriate language and sexual elements as inappropriate and therefore limit their consumption. To monitor screen use and content viewed, they most often use a combination of shared viewing, conversations and restrictions. The strategies used are generally judged to be effective. Mothers of boys supervise more, and mothers with higher education use more active forms of intervention.
Research findings were used to design a booklet to help speech and language therapists raise parents' awareness of the impact of screen devices on children's development and to advise them on the use of screen devices and viewed content to maximise their benefits for children.
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