<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Young children's practices with tablet computers has been a topic in parenting discourses for several years, drawing on earlier debates over technologies and media in children's lives. In this article, I analyse data from a video observation–based media ethnography of seven Danish children (aged 4–6) and engage with the research tradition attributed to parental mediation. The analysis suggests two major paths in the struggles that stand out from the discourses and in situ practices of parents and children in the empirical data. These paths encompass struggles in relation to supporting and directing children's play activities and setting boundaries in their use of tablets and content. The nuances and implications of both paths are analysed and discussed in terms of strategies that emerge to support children's agency and rapport with parents, as well as what this means for future research.</p>
</abstract>

Young children's practices with tablet computers has been a topic in parenting discourses for several years, drawing on earlier debates over technologies and media in children's lives. In this article, I analyse data from a video observation–based media ethnography of seven Danish children (aged 4–6) and engage with the research tradition attributed to parental mediation. The analysis suggests two major paths in the struggles that stand out from the discourses and in situ practices of parents and children in the empirical data. These paths encompass struggles in relation to supporting and directing children's play activities and setting boundaries in their use of tablets and content. The nuances and implications of both paths are analysed and discussed in terms of strategies that emerge to support children's agency and rapport with parents, as well as what this means for future research.

Contesting digital leisure time: Parental struggles in relation to young children's play with tablets at home

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Young children's practices with tablet computers has been a topic in parenting discourses for several years, drawing on earlier debates over technologies and...

Interaction category	Number of instances
1. Parent assigns or directs	104
2. Parent praises	3
3. Parent helps physically	10
4. Parent helps verbally	23
5. Parent manipulates device	23
6. Parent plays along	9
7. Asking for help	19
8. Breakdown	55
9. Answers parent	56
10. Utterance is overheard	17
11. Declines parental direction	18
12. Explains to adults	97

Contesting digital leisure time: Parental struggles in relation to young children's play with tablets at home

Published Online: Sep 09, 2021

Page range: 94 - 106

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2021-0043

Keywords
young children, digital media, tablets, play, parental mediation

© 2021 Thomas Enemark Lundtofte, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Instances of coded interaction categories

Contesting digital leisure time: Parental struggles in relation to young children's play with tablets at home

Published Online: Sep 09, 2021

Page range: 94 - 106

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nor-2021-0043

Keywordsyoung children, digital media, tablets, play, parental mediation

© 2021 Thomas Enemark Lundtofte, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Instances of coded interaction categories

Keywords
young children, digital media, tablets, play, parental mediation