Materials

Digital technologies and social networks are becoming increasingly integrated into the life of a modern family, and parents are tasked with introducing their children to the Internet space, teaching them safety precautions, and initially supporting their user activity. In order to study parental mediation strategies and related parental perceptions, 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of children of the corresponding age groups on a sample of Russian parents of primary school children and early adolescents. The interviews touched on the topics of children's autonomy in the use of electronic devices, as well as the practices of its support and control among modern parents. Based on how parents perceive the behavior and vulnerabilities of their children, the types of "child image" are described. Parents take into account various types of child vulnerabilities in their digital mediation practices; these practices vary depending on the child's age. "Moral panic" in connection with modern children's immersion in the Internet is weakly reflected in parents' statements. Theoretically substantiated types of parental mediation of the use of electronic devices are empirically identified: active, limiting, shared use, monitoring, and technical control. Mediation-punishment and involvement in other activities as an alternative to online activity are also described. A conclusion is made about the need to expand the theoretical model of parental mediation of a child's interaction with electronic devices due to characteristics associated with parents' ideas about their own child and the digital space in general, the transition from understanding electronic devices through the dichotomy of "blessings or curses" to a more complex representation.