| Abstract [eng] |
Two decades ago, parents began to face significant parenting challenges in developing fully healthy children who are able to use information technology (IT) safely and responsibly. In today's world, IT tools are available and used in almost every family, regardless of their socio-economic status, which on the one hand reduces children's segregation and even improves their emotional state, and on the other hand, inappropriate and excessive use of them leads to various other problems. These issues have become particularly relevant in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of the well-being of children in families at social risk. The purpose of this work is to investigate the particularities of the use of IT and the education of children in families experiencing social difficulties. A qualitative study using a semi-structured interview approach was conducted to understand the experience of families with various social difficulties in raising children and addressing the challenges posed by children’s use of IT. Seven families were selected for the study and semi-structured interviews were taken from the parents. A qualitative analysis of the content of the interviews revealed that the children ages 6–11 have many inappropriate IT habits that put them at risk of becoming compulsive IT and Internet users. Parents in the study also demonstrate a lack of parenting skills, unable to implement rules or agreements at home that would normalize children’s leisure time with IT and reduce harm to their physical and mental health, learning, and social skills development. It has been found that parents use access to IT both as a motivational tool and as a tool of punishment, which provokes a mutually manipulative relationship. One of the most pronounced emotions experienced by parents in the study is the feeling of helplessness that parents face almost daily as they struggle with their children who spend as much time as possible in front of the screens. The helplessness of parents is mainly due to the fact that they lack parenting skills and a sense of authority over their children and are not competent enough in the field of IT; they do not have adequate support in their immediate environment or children's schools. In addition, parents lack sound and reasoned knowledge about the multifaceted damage of screens when used improperly. This situation may also be due to the inability or partial inability of parents to develop emotionally warm and supportive relationship with their children. |
