How Parents Manage Young Children’s Mobile Media Use

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss how parents manage young children’s media use in today’s media environment. I focus on the concept of parental mediation (parent–child discussion, regulation, and co-use of media) and discuss its conceptualization, the research that has been devoted to it, and its applicability within a new media landscape in which children’s media consumption is increasingly private and mobile. In addition, I discuss parental attitudes toward their children’s media use, parents’ own media habits, and how the habits shape parenting choices, child outcomes, and family dynamics. I conclude that the decision to provide parental mediation is based on consideration of trade-offs, including costs (e.g., time, energy, and money) and perceived benefits of children’s media use (e.g., learning, entertainment, and soothing). Suggestions for future research are provided.