What did family members tell us about their mediation of children's digital play?

Parent and carers attitudes to digital play were informed by both direct experiences of their own children’s digital play and, to a lesser extent, external factors and influences, such as media reporting or discussions with friends and family and within workplaces. It seems that many parents and carers experience some conflicted feelings about their children’s digital play. This is very understandable given that it is a complicated phenomenon and that parents are exposed to diverse and sometimes contradictory messages in the news media, social media and in in-person discussions with friends, family and others, including teachers and other professionals.

Broadly speaking, however, parents and carers expressed nuanced perceptions and attitudes, typically recognising both perceived benefits and perceived risks and inadequacies associated with their children's digital play. They explained how their approaches to mediating their children’s digital play connected with both perceived benefits and risks and inadequacies. In terms of the benefits, parents and carers particularly highlighted positive emotional experiences, positive social experiences and opportunities for many types of learning. In terms of the risks and inadequacies of digital play, parents and carers particularly highlighted worries about excessive use (including the idea that digital play could displace other important activities) and the risk of exposure to strangers or harmful or violent content. 

In line with the way many parents and carers conceptualised well-being more broadly in terms of balance, many also expressed similar understandings in relation to digital play and well-being. They felt that helping their child achieve balance in relation to their digital play was important. Balance could, however, mean different things to different parents and carers. Notably, this included time balance and risk balance. The perceptions and attitudes expressed by parents and carers in the present study appear more diverse and more positive that those discussed in some past studies. Societal attitudes do, of course, shift over time and it is likely that the recent experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic will have given many parents and carers increased opportunities to observe and reflect on their children’s digital way. It is also possible that the specific framing of the present study, which focused on a positive, assets-based approach to children’s well-being rather than risk or learning, offered parents and carers greater scope to talk about their children’s digital play holistically. 

There was a clear connection between parent and carer perceptions and attitudes, as well as material factors, and the mediation approaches that parents and carers adopted. Positive perceptions tended to be associated with less restrictive approaches to mediation, and more initiation, facilitation and co-play, with parents and carers describing children’s positive experiences as grounds for allowing more digital play than they might otherwise sanction. Specific material factors identified in the study also tended to be associated with less restrictive approaches to mediation, and more initiation, facilitation and co-play. For example, when parents felt that their child did not have safe space to play outdoors, they were more likely to support digital play. Negative perceptions, meanwhile, tended to be associated with increased restriction. More active forms of mediation, meanwhile, were employed in relation to both perceptions of benefits and perceptions of possible risks, with parents and carers engaging with, and scaffolding, children’s digital play in order to maximise the perceived benefits and to protect children from perceived risks. 

What mediating roles did adults play?

Children’s parents, carers, relatives, friends and other family members played diverse roles in their digital play in the study, something researchers have referred to as 'mediation'. While much past research on mediation has focused on restrictive mediation (stopping children doing something), less has focused on the ways more active and positive family mediation can support children's well-being. The present study identified many examples of active and positive forms of mediation. 

Most families employed a mixed ‘palette’ of mediation approaches. Family approaches to mediation were often flexible and evolved, both over time as children grow older and in specific times and contexts. Many parents and carers in the study appeared to be actively revisiting and redrafting their approaches to mediation of children’s digital play. As others have argued previously, parents and carers are sometimes not fully aware of aspects of their mediation in relation to shifting contextual and individual factors. The overall perceptions and attitudes of parents and carers could be imagined as being positioned on a spectrum and this appears to correspond broadly with different families adopting different ‘palettes’ of mediation approaches, with some placing more emphasis overall on certain forms of mediation, such as more restrictive approaches, more ‘hands-on’ or more ‘hands-off’ approaches. 

Adults initiated and facilitated children's digital play, introducing children to digital devices and particular games, making it possible for them to have access to the devices or games they wanted or even actively completing parts of digital games for children so they could progress. 

Adults co-played with children, both as competitors and 'teammates'. 

Adults actively mediated children's digital play, for example supporting them to develop operational skills, to carry out tasks and achieve game-led or self-defined goals. They supported children's awareness of, and ability to cope with, the risks associated with digital play. They also supported children's emotional awareness and emotional resilience in relation to digital play. 

Adults also related and extended children's digital play, by drawing a child’s attention connections between their digital play interests and other things or by building  on a child’s existing digital interests to engage them in completely new activities.

Sometimes adults were more 'hands-off', playing little role in their children's digital play. However, adults who were more 'hands-off' still engaged in their children’s digital play in very meaningful ways. For example some engaged in 'soft surveillance', keeping an eye on children's play from a distance. Some deliberately chose not to engage closely with children's play to give them a chance to develop independence. Others simply engaged by 'being with' children as they played, even if they didn't get involved.

Finally, adults engaged in restriction in relation to children's digital play, restricting social interaction, time spent playing, the use of particular of games, apps or devices, play location and financial choices. 

What mediating roles did other children play?

Children’s digital play was, of course, also mediated by other children, including siblings, cousins, friends, peers and children who are not personally known. 

Children played a significant role in initiation, introducing each other to new digital games. Older siblings often introduced younger siblings to new games, but the reverse was also true, with many older siblings playing certain games favoured by younger siblings. A lot of sibling co-play was observed. Some of this challenged traditional definitions of co-play. For example, when children played together in a digital space such as Bloxburg, while sitting in their own physical spaces in different rooms. Like adults, children supported each others' abilities with digital games, including operational skills and emotional resilience and extended their play. 

Whole family play

Many examples of whole family mediation of children’s digital play were observed or reported, particularly whole family co-play. These examples appear particularly important for children’s positive emotional experiences and for experiencing feelings of togetherness. Certain types of games appeared particularly supportive of whole family co-play, including console games like FIFA. However, families also used games intended for solo play in creative and transgressive ways that made them more communal. For example, working together to support a child's strategising in playing a new game or taking turns playing a single player game on the same device. 

Research spotlight: Ollie and his Mum

The image on this page is representative of a particular family in our dataset. The illustration was created for our project by Alexandra Francis, an independent illustrator, designer, and animator based in Manchester (UK). Find out more about her work at https://alexandrafrancis.com/.