Studying How Parents Mediate When Facing the Media Environment

Abstract
New media has opened new perspectives for family members by promoting different patterns of social interaction and providing access to vast information. The presence of new communication technologies, by providing new opportunities for joint activities, has had tremendous effects on the relationships of family members. Is. Investigating mediation and how parents encounter cyberspace not only helps to design new solutions in media education for parents, but also opens up new fields in media studies, especially in the field of family. Children are one of the possibilities of virtual space, limits and boundaries of activity with communication technologies and necessary skills in the media space. The sample of the research was the potential participants from parents in the city of Karaj. Considering the importance of maximum diversity in the research sample and the existing limitations for conducting interviews, criteria were considered for selecting the sample frame. Using purposeful sampling (based on selection criteria) and theory, after semi-structured interviews with 15 samples of parents, thematic saturation was obtained. The findings of this research are 57 non-repetitive and non-overlapping important statements, the following 4 "overall themes" including parents' media capability. "Restrictive Mediation", "Watch Mediation", "Active Mediation", 10 "Subtopics" and 43 "Comprehensive Meaning Units" were obtained. The results showed that parents' media skills include strategies that allow them to Effectively face the media environment and the use of children and teenagers. Due to the types of restrictive, observational and active mediation strategies, in the complex parent-child interactions, many individual background factors have intervened and mediation strategies, with the changes in children's digital behaviors are variable, and dependent on growth and activity. They are in the virtual space. Therefore, the way parents deal with the media space is not limited to a mediation strategy, and parents may use several methods for media intervention. Not only parents influence the child's behavior, but also the child's real behavior or his digital abilities They are influenced in such a way that they adopt their mediation approach according to the activity that the child does.
Introduction
With the advent of the information age and the emergence of social media, the Internet has often helped children's growth and is associated with a decrease in the quality of life and their exposure to unknown risks. The main goal of this article is to study how parents mediate in their children's employment and use of cyber space. In this context, we are trying to find out what the participants' experiences are about the way they interact with their children, the limits and boundaries of their children's activities with media technology and the necessary skills in the media space. This is the question of how parents deal with parenting in the media space.
Methedology
The method of data interpretation in this research is theme or thematic analysis.Thematic analysis is a method to recognize, analyze and report patterns in qualitative data.This method is a process for analyzing textual data and turns scattered and diverse data into rich and detailed data.The data collection tool in this study is semi-structured interviews.Analyzing the data using the 6-step process of Clark and Brown (2017) in the field of thematic analysis, continuously going back and forth between the data and the analyzed codings resulting from the 6 steps, getting familiar with the data, creating primary codes, searching for optional codes, Creating sub-themes, defining the main themes and preparing the final report, in which 57 key concepts, 47 compact semantic units, 9 sub-themes and 3 main themes were obtained.Access to samples was done through targeted sampling including parents of children under 12 years of age and through snowball (non-probability sampling) and as a result, firstly based on the thematic axis of the research and complete knowledge, the first person was selected and after the interview based on the criteria of the research community. have been introduced.Sampling with the condition of theoretical saturation continued up to the number of 15 samples and when the results were repeated, 4 more samples were taken to ensure theoretical saturation and the total number reached 19 samples. To validate the findings, Guba and Lincoln criteria (ability validity, transferability, reliability and confirmability) were used.for reliability, researchers' review and interweaving technique were used so that as much as possible, different points of view were examined and more comprehensive and deeper data were obtained. Peer review (mentors and advisors of experts in the subject with a history of authorship or research in this field) was used to ensure the quality and validity of the interview protocol and for the validity of the coding structure. The use of targeted sampling has increased the possibility of transferring data. The use of in-depth interviews in information for continuous comparison and conceptualization was done in line with the criterion of verifiability.
Result
The findings of this research include 98 important non-repetitive and non-overlapping statements, under 3 "general themes" including "parental media competence", "restrictive mediation", "viewer", "active mediation", 10 "sub-themes" and 47 "units". compact meaning" were obtained.The findings of the research include the general theme of parents' media capability, which is obtained from 2 sub-themes of acquiring media skills and feeling self-efficacy and competence, and thirteen (13) compact semantic units.In the sub-theme of media use skills, eleven (11) intensive semantic units include familiarity with how to use different software (Word, Excel, etc.), installing the required software, how to send messages, questions and receive answers, familiarity with how to interact with friends and teachers through two-way software, the ability to update the required information, using virtual pages for the purpose of education, parental awareness of privacy, familiarity with attractive and informative websites for children and teenagers, familiarity with various content (text, image, music), familiarity with age-appropriate and desirable virtual games of children was obtained.The findings of this research are 57 non-repetitive and non-overlapping important statements, the following 4 "overall themes" including parents' media capability. "Restrictive Mediation", "Watch Mediation", "Active Mediation", 10 "Subtopics" and 43 "Comprehensive Meaning Units" were obtained. The results showed that parents' media skills include strategies that allow them to Effectively face the media environment and the use of children and teenagers. Due to the types of restrictive, observational and active mediation strategies, in the complex parent-child interactions, many individual background factors have intervened and mediation strategies, with the changes in children's digital behaviors are variable, and dependent on growth and activity. They are in the virtual space. Therefore, the way parents deal with the media space is not limited to a mediation strategy, and parents may use several methods for media intervention. Not only parents influence the child's behavior, but also the child's real behavior or his digital abilities They are influenced in such a way that they adopt their mediation approach according to the activity that the child does.In communication research, the theory of parental mediation is based on the principle that parents try to reduce the negative effects of the media on their children by resorting to different interpersonal communication strategies.The findings of the research include the main theme of direct and indirect limitation of observation, which is obtained from 4 sub-themes of direct time limitation, direct technical limitation, direct limitation of social interactions, observation and thirteen (13) compact semantic units.The sub-theme of time limit includes four (4) compact semantic units of clear rules, prohibiting unlimited use of the Internet, determining the amount of usage hours, warning in case of non-compliance with the rules, and technical limitation including three (3) compact semantic units of limited and blocking some virtual activities. By using the software, the parent's permission to enter a specific page, setting a password for mobile and computer, etc., and limiting social interactions including four (4) compact semantic units, limiting the amount of social interactions, including virtual chat, electronic mail, text messages and social interactions in games. Also, the sub-theme of indirect restriction of surveillance includes two (2) intensive semantic units of imperceptible control and checking activity and indirect restriction of children's use of virtual space.Parents, with parenting and active mediation, in the course of a joint activity with children and teenagers, help them acquire social and cognitive skills, so that they improve their self-improvement skills and gradually become able to take responsibility for using the media environment. For example, while watching a movie, parents attract children's attention, encourage them to comment and ask questions, and expose them to language and cognitive and digital learning.In this research, the general theme of active mediation is obtained from 4 sub-themes of "trust building", "joint activity and use", "conversation and strengthening of self-efficacy" and "training", and 17 compact semantic units. Some parents, in order to develop social and cognitive skills in their children in virtual space, accompany them and guide them through joint activity and use.During a joint activity with parents, with their support and guidance, the child is able to improve his skills and gradually acquire the ability to use the media environment.Among the strategies of parents is active use with their children, in this way, parents do joint and diverse activities with the aim of increasing their child's proper use of digital technologies, for example, they play a video game together or search for attractive and entertaining sites together.In the style of active mediation, parents and children talk and discuss about virtual space and various activities such as computer games and internet usage.Some parents, by actively mediating, discussing and having a critical conversation with their children on the use of the Internet, help the children to evaluate and use these technologies as critical users or spectators.This group of people encourages the development of critical, creative, self-efficacy and openness in children.Through mediation and "active mediation", parents perform different activities with the aim of increasing the child's appropriate use of digital technologies, for example, explaining how to use them or talking about the contents of new programs or websites.
Conclusion
New media, through the promotion of different patterns of social interaction, and the possibility of access to vast information, have opened new perspectives for family members, and are effective in maintaining relationships within the family. Examining mediation and the way parents face the virtual space not only helps to design new solutions in media education for parents, but also opens new fields in media studies, especially in the family field. The media ability of parents in facilitating interactions between children and new media. It has a key aspect. In order to mediate and guide children's experiences in the web environment, parents must have up-to-date knowledge and skills about digital media.Also, according to various characteristics such as the age and ability of the child, parents take multiple strategies of empowering and active and restrictive mediation and adopt appropriate strategies for children's media intervention with combined methods.In the complex parent-child interactions, many factors of the individual context have intervened and the mediation strategies are variable with the changes in the digital behaviors of children, and it is a function of their growth and activity in the virtual space.The way parents deal with the media environment is not limited to a mediation strategy, and it is possible for parents to use several methods at the same time for media intervention. In this way, not only parents influence the child's behavior, but the child's real behavior or his digital abilities are also affected by their behavior. The way they adopt their mediation approach, according to the activity that the child does.In this research, parents acknowledged the effectiveness of restrictive mediation, in the form of limiting time, interactions, etc., from this point of view, parental supervision is important in facilitating interactions between children and new media, and sometimes in the course of a joint activity, parents support and guide themselves. It regulates that the child is able to improve his skills and abilities. It is worth mentioning that restrictive and monitoring strategies are more effective at younger ages. Sometimes, teenagers consider parental control or limitations as an obstacle to meet their needs and show a negative reaction to this phenomenon by increasing their online activities. Of course, how to apply restrictions is different according to different contexts and fields and needs more studies. In the current media world, parents need to be able to mediate effectively in the form of being with their children, building trust, playing together, rethinking, talking and creating content. They acknowledged privacy and sharing. This kind of active mediation, in the form of discussions and conversations, helps children to be active in the use of technologies as users or critical spectators. It is important in designing the learning environment and creating interactive learning scenarios and challenges. In this way, children and teenagers will be able to explain and describe the memories of using information technology and know how to deal with them, and be aware of the risks of transactions on the Internet, and the basic rights and responsibilities regarding their own and others' data.Now, many children and teenagers have an "open mind", because they interact in local situations with global levels through modern communication technologies, including smart phones and... with social networks, inside and outside the country. Let's look at the world with empathy and openness and especially with ease.