Some aspects of digital socialization of preschool and primary school children (results of an empirical study)

digital media (devices), preschool age, primary school children, parents’ attitude, social situation of development, digital socialization

Digital childhood is determined by a special social situation of the development, since the persistent use of digital devices affects all spheres of contemporary children’s life. The Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Contemporary Childhood of MSUPE conducted an empirical study aimed at identifying the peculiarities of parents’ position regarding the use of gadgets by their children. Questionnaires were developed for parents of preschool and primary school age children. The sample consisted of 6882 respondents from different regions of Russia. The data obtained suggest that most children get access to digital devices at preschool age with the permission of their parents, as a rule, for entertainment and the development of individual mental functions. Digital devices begin to perform the socializing function at primary school age, when the functionality of their use significantly expands, and they start being used to solve such age-related tasks as communication and learning. Most Russian parents of preschoolers take a conscious position regarding their children’s access to digital devices, allowing or completely prohibiting children from using them. However there are parents who lack a consistent strategy in providing digital devices to their children. They have difficulties in organizing their children's interaction with various types of digital content. At the same time, parents rarely rely on professional recommendations concerning the organization of the child's interaction with digital devices. The revealed contradiction emphasises the importance of elaborating recommendations for organizing children's interaction with digital media as a tool that allows them to effectively solve socialization tasks.

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