Pandemic Screen Time: An Analysis of Parenting Practices Connected with Children’s Use of Media in South Korea and the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Kim, Aime ; Jeong, Hyeon-Seon ; Willet, Rebekah ; Lim, Ju ; Yoon, Mi ; Kim, Gwanghee
Citations
Abstract
This article reports on a study investigating the experiences of family media practices during the pandemic. The article is based on questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 39 parents in South Korea and the United States who have children aged between 4 and 11. The article employs a framework developed by Livingstone and Blum-Ross to consider different “genres for ‘digital parenting’” (2020: 11). The article argues that although children’s screen time increased dramatically, parents continued to mediate it and make deliberate decisions about children’s media use. In particular, the analysis reveals parents’ decisions about different purposes for children’s media use, embracing many purposes they had previously resisted. These findings indicate that parents are making more nuanced decisions than previously employed when they followed indiscriminate screen time rules.