[Title]
A Study on Pre-Schoolers’ Smart Media Use and Parents’ Perception
[Author]
Joohyun Oh (Research Professor, Barun ICT Research Center)
Yong-Wan Park (Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Gyeongsang National University)
[Abstract]
Digital natives, who were born in 80~90’s, have become parents. Because they are used to smart media, they have used their smart devices not only for business and personal entertainment but also for infant care, which leads to increasing smart media overdependence of infants and toddlers. This study aims to identify the current status of smart media overdependence of pre-schoolers (1~6 year-old), and propose policy directions to reduce such overdependence. By conducting the survey for 602 parents with children aged 12 months to 6 years old, we found that the first time to use smart media is getting younger, and that 59.3 percent of pre-schoolers were using smart devices. Among pre-schoolers using smart media, 16.5 percent were in potential risk group, and 4.5 percent were in high-risk group. The higher parents' smart media overdependence score was, the higher pre-schoolers' smart media overdependence score was. Based on these results, policy implications, such as developing guidelines for pre-schoolers’ smart media use and parenting education programs, were discussed.
[Keywords]
infant, toddler, pre-schooler, smartphones, overdependence
Korean Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, Vol.13 No.3, pp 3~26