Considering the new media, this, on top of giving guidance to the relationships that are set up with the children with new media, “parents share and learn new information since they are also in a constantly changing atmosphere that deeply impacts the family” (Schofield, 2011, p.323). The impact does not just concern content but also concerns the family relationships. According to this researcher, before the coming of the digital era, the researchers took interest in undertaking the analysis of the methods set up by parents “to mitigate the effects of the media on their children” (Schofield, 2011, p.324). In this case, other than giving the suggestion of “a limit to the time spent before the television screen and studying how programs shaped their children’s desires, specialists have also noted the importance of the parental role, as an agent in socializing their children in the use of media” (Schofield, 2011, p.324). Experts commenced to utilize the term “parental mediation’ to express that essential role that parents had in the management and regulation of their children’s experiences with television” (Schofield, 2011, p.324).
Mendoza (2009) points out that examining the parental mediation “not only informs initiatives in parent media education but also raises several issues to consider within the field of media literacy” (Mendoza, 2009, p.38). Even if co-viewing is not explicitly a form of media literacy, it gives out the opportunity for parents to engage in the enactment of the active mediation practices, “but parents should be forewarned of the potential adverse effects of ‘silent endorsement’ in co-viewing”. It is also pointed out that active mediation informs media literacy that “parent’s use of value statements about media can have a positive effect on their children, particularly to protect them from media effects, but less is understood about how parents utilize inquiry as “a form of active mediation….differences in the purpose, means, and goals of media literacy for parents and educators influences how it is practiced with children” (Mendoza, 2009, p.38).
References
Mendoza, K. (2009). Surveying Parental Mediation: Connections, Challenges, and Questions for Media Literacy. Journal of Media Literacy Education 1 (1) 28-41
Schofield, L. (2011), Parental Mediation Theory. Communication Theory, 21(1),. 323-34