How Parents Mediate Children’s Media Consumption

Children spend many hours a day consuming a variety of media content using interactive technology in both formal and informal learning environments. The ubiquity of devices has affected family life, making it important to understand how different parental mediation strategies for children’s media use positively and negatively impact children’s cognitive development. Parental mediation can impact what content a child is exposed to and how they use the technology. Much of the literature on parenting practices correlated with academic and learning outcomes also applies to the digital realm with implications for policy makers and educators. This chapter examines the extant literature on parental mediation with media for children 0–18 years of age. Whenever possible, our focus will be on newer interactive technologies such as the Internet, social media, and videogames; however, when needed, we turn to the literature on television and parenting, as this body of work often applies to newer media and family dynamics.