Psychological Media Competence of Parents of Primary School Children

Abstract

The paper features sychological media competence of parents on the basis of ideas about psychological media competence as a meso- level phenomenon, differing complex composition. The psychological media competence of parents is considered in the structure of their psychological competence, including cognitive, practical, and reflexive components. The cognitive component includes knowledge that allows one to take part in the media communication and analyze the influence of media texts on the psyche of children. The reflexive component is the awareness of internal changes after interacting with media. The practical component is represented by the ability to realize competence in interaction with children. The procedure for diagnosing these components was developed based on the research method of “Psychological media competence of parents of primary school pupils”. The first part was represented by ituations describing behavior and actions of primary school pupils in media sphere and identifying how parents react to them. The second part included watching an animated film, answering questions that reveal how parents understood the effect of the cartoon on children’s emotional state and behavior, and writing a letter to the main character of the cartoon on behalf of their children. The analysis of the psychological media competence study involved a method of expert assessments. The results indicate a certain use of constructive ways of reaction to situations, which are related to information search via internet and watching destructive video. The parents proved to underestimate effect of various media on children and demonstrated problems in assessing and meaningful discussion of the media texts with children.