Policy Recommendations for Preventing Problematic Internet Use in Schools: A Qualitative Study of Parental Perspectives

Abstract

Parenting in the digital age has been characterized as one of the most challenging tasks of the modern era. Parents are ambivalent about their mediating role. However, problematic aspects of adolescent online use have not been adequately addressed in education. The present study investigated parental perceptions of intervention needs within schools to prevent excessive/problematic use, enhance parent–child communication, and reduce family conflicts. Nine interviews with parents of adolescents residing in the UK were carried out and analyzed utilizing thematic analysis. Three main themes emerged as parental proposals: (i) schools as digital education providers and prevention hubs, (ii) provision of mental health literacy to raise awareness, resolve ambiguity regarding impacts and mitigate excessive use and impacts, and (iii) psychoeducation and upskilling. The third theme related to impacts from time spent on screens (time displacement), content-related impacts, and context-related impacts. The present study offers recommendations for media literacy during adolescence beyond e-safety (i.e., addressing interpersonal communication problems, privacy vs. disclosure issues), based on parents’ views, and provides new insights for media and emotional health literacy collaboration efforts. Future work should investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of such interventions to support the emotional health of young people and prevent problematic internet use escalation.

Psychopathology in virtual education for primary school students in the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Such conditions can have negative effects on learners’ learning process. [ 24 25 ] Internet costs are relatively high for many schools and parents. [ 26 ] One of the most important problems for students in using the capacity of cyberspace for education and training is the problems of mobile phones and lack of the required equipment, especially phones and tablets, which is a common problem for many people.…”

Relational Technologies in Promoting Adolescent School Mental Health : Scope review protocol

“…When checking the years of publication of the articles, it is possible to verify that one article was published in 2021 23 , two articles were published in 2019 19.22 , one article was published in 2019 19 and one article was published in 2017 21 .…”

Either you control social media or social media controls you: Understanding the impact of self‐control on excessive social media use from the dual‐system perspective

“…Despite the existence of a number of digital literacy guides, no documents or programs have been centrally recommended for educational institutions. As a priority, conscious and beneficial versus unplanned and problematic social media use should be brought to the attention of users in both schools and tertiary institutions (Throuvala et al, 2021). Considering the impact of excessive use on everyday life, courses on digital and social media literacy need to be included in the Mental Health Literacy curriculum, along with other well-being courses.…”