The mobile phone as babysitter
Are today's children born with a USB connection?
The results of the 2018 ADELE study put this horror vision into perspective. The study found that although today's four to seven-year-olds enjoy gaming, watching films on YouTube or watching TV, they still prefer to play games, play sports, read books or listen to stories and music.
For the ADELE study, which follows on from the JAMES and MIKE studies, the media team from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) conducted interviews with 24 families - with the parents and the children. The results showed that most families have clearly defined when and for how long children are allowed to use digital devices - the parents have sovereignty over the devices. However, many have mixed feelings about a future in which their children will have unsupervised access to digital devices.
Tip 1: Explain to your children that there are also things to see and hear on digital media that can make them feel insecure or frightened. That's why the rule is: never surf alone.
The ADELE study has also shown that many parents do not rely on the age rating for films, as they know that films in the ADELE study can also contain traumatising scenes that have been approved for six-year-olds by the Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Film Industry (FSK). Most of the parents surveyed therefore check films before they approve them for their children or watch them with them.
Tip 2: Check whether a film is suitable for your child, as preschool children often cannot yet distinguish between fiction and reality and need you as parents to help them classify the images. Watch films together with your child or at least don't let them watch films that you don't know yourself.
The study also revealed that parents sometimes use their digital devices as babysitters so that they can do various tasks in peace. On the one hand, this is understandable - because it works. However, when media is used as a babysitter, it is hardly possible to control the content as the parents are distracted.
Tip 3: Don't let your child take their first steps alone. Accompany them step by step as they begin to take an interest in digital media. And limit the use of digital media as a babysitter to an absolute minimum.
ADELE study 2018
The ADELE study (acronym for Activités - Digitales - Education - Loisirs - Enfants) analyses the media consumption of children aged four to seven in German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland. The ZHAW Media Psychology department conducted the survey for the first time this year. The study was commissioned by Swisscom and complements the established MIKE and JAMES studies, which analyse the media use of children and young people aged 6 to 13 and 12 to 19 respectively.
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On Medienstark you will find tips and interactive learning modules for the competent use of
with digital media in everyday family life swisscom.ch/medienstark
Read more:
What do young people do online? The results of the JAMES study...