Engl. transl.: Tablets in the family life of toodlers and preschoolers

“No media for children under three!”, this popular slogan is no longer valid as an advice for parents since the spreading of the touchscreen media. The study presents findings from parent interviews which were held in the context of a qualitative observational study of 2- to 6-year-old children on tablet handling. The mobile devices are used by the children at home almost entirely to play with apps and – at attaining the kindergarten age – also to watch video clips. Even if the parents now and then leave the tablet or smartphone to the children to get themselves time to manage the household, they nevertheless make clear by restrictions and rules that there has to be a modest, time limited use of the media. Yet the motivations of the parents to make their child familiar with digital media are quite different. They range from the presence of the media in family life which arouses the interest of the child, through the playful learning potential that can be used, up to submission to an apparent necessity that demands digitized modern society. (Feil 2016, 43)

"Children's use of digital media in the age group of 2 to 6 years generally depends on how parents introduce them to the use and how parents - after their first media education experiences - continue to shape their children's media use." (Feil 2016, 45) "The media are primarily used by children in the family context - at home and also on the move - but very rarely in the extended family circle and not at all in the day-care centre. Since children's access to digital media is primarily granted by their parents and thus subject to their control, they feel responsible for their children's media use themselves." (Feil 2016, 46) "According to parents, most children gained their first experience of using mobile devices when looking at family photos on their smartphones. Therefore, children are already familiar with "swiping" when they first deal with interactive offers - mostly with voice or sound apps - on the smartphone or tablet. The internet capability of the devices makes it possible for parents to make targeted children's series available to the children on YouTube, whereby the children's interests shifted over time from playing with apps to watching video clips." (Feil 2016, 48) "The qualitative interviews show that tablets and smartphones are also occupational options for children that enable parents to create free time for themselves, primarily to take care of everyday necessities." (Feil 2016, 51) "Tablets and smartphones are multifunctional media, but are then used as a single medium - either for playing games or watching videos." (Feil 2016, 51) [translated by the coder]