New media face to face – parental monitoring as the key factor of prevention of risks from media environment

University of Hradec Kralove, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

Abstract

Contemporary family environment is becoming more and more media-rich. According to the latest data from statistical investigations, families with children are equipped by different media tools with the growing tendency. This also brings an increasing tendency to be attacked by different risks and danger from media environment. The paper shows the European situation regarding the on-line risks from last European research and describes the situation in the Czech society. The analysis is based on the data from a research in Czech families with children at the age 6–17 and the description of the situation regarding the parental activities and parental monitoring. We use the parental and also children's perspectives. Our data showed that regardless the high level of discussion about risks from media and especially the internet in society, school and family, there is still part of parents who do not pay adequate attention to these matters. According to these findings, more attention should be paid to parental support and education in this field.