ABSTRACT

This study is based on the European project “The Impact of Technological Transformations on the Digital Generation” – DigiGen (financed by the European Union’s Horizon 2022) and has the scope to present the implications of the accentuated usage of digital technologies (DT), by children aged 5-6 and 8-10, during the period COVID-19 pandemic, on parents’ and children’s perception of family dynamics. Based on the methodology of the DigiGen consortium, we analyse interviews conducted with twelve children and two family members for each child, with the purpose of understanding their family interactions related to DT. The findings of the Romanian part of the DigiGen report indicate that both children and parents actively use mediation and negotiation strategies to be in control over their DT usage. Generally, both parents and their offspring acknowledge the role parents have in monitoring children’s digital activities and competence development, though parents often fail to impose rules and offer the necessary support.

Keywords: Children; parental monitoring; digital technologies (DT); family dynamics; COVID-19.

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