Engl. transl.: MoFam – Mobile media in the family. Long version of the study

"Media play a role in an increasing number of areas of everyday family life. This trend is supported by the current rapid technological development. For parents and families, this results in high demand for media education information and counselling, the sources of which they can only partially access themselves. The project consists of two sub-studies: In expertise, the attitude towards and use of mobile media in families with children aged zero to 16 years is investigated. In group surveys with parents and educational counsellors, questions and needs of these target groups on the topic of mobile media in the family will be collected. The results are to provide a sound basis for the expansion of counselling structures for media education and media competence promotion in Bavaria." (JFF 2016 [URL: https://www.jff.de/veroeffentlichungen/detail/studienergebnisse-mobile-medien-in-der-familie-mofam-i/]) [translated by the coder]

Parents "Parents' parenting behaviour concerning mobile media is strongly influenced by their own general attitude towards these media and their own way of dealing with them. Mobile media are used in families in various situations and fulfil different functions for families, such as communication. Parent state that media has become a part of the families daily life. Generally, it is considered part of the parental responsibility to lead children to the responsible use of mobile media. However, there are differences between mothers and fathers in the implementation of this parental task. Parents disagree on the use of mobile media as a means of parenting. Some parents do not think that this is right and place importance on not mixing different areas of parenting with each other. In addition to the parents' general attitudes towards mobile media, parental media parenting is also closely related to the concerns and fears they associate with mobile media and the internet to their children. These are on two levels. On the one hand, parents perceive their own observations and difficulties in everyday family life, and on the other hand, they also have fears about developments that they have not yet come into contact with themselves." (Wagner et al. 2016, 8-25) Perceived difficulties include: "Extent and intensity of their children's media use Social pressure to use smartphones and certain apps at the transition to secondary school Conflicts and bullying in social networking services Data and privacy protection" (Wagner et al. 2016, 23). Perceived challenges include: "No development of creativity and no experiences in reality Avoid building social relationships and communicating directly with others No longer able to cope with the demands of school Orientation towards the wrong role models Impairment of health" (Wagner et al. 2016, 23). Professionals "The statements of the interviewed professionals of the educational counselling centres and (partly) stationary facilities show a high level of reflection regarding their attitude towards media. The majority of them consider this to be an individual prerequisite for their professional actions and examine the influence of their attitude on the counselling process. A broad spectrum of opinions, ranging from a very open attitude oriented towards the target group to a clear scepticism about media or individual applications becomes visible. Different identified perspectives either focus on media, adolescents, parents and their (media) parenting actions or the media actions of the professionals and their professionalism. In addition, professionals of (party) stationary facilities state that media are not integrated enough into everyday life and that it is not discussed how to deal with them responsibly. At the same time, parents view educational professionals as a source of advice. Therefore, they are confronted with various needs by parents, such as rules, boundaries or purchases of new items." (Wagner et al. 2016, 25-46)