Parental ethnotheories in children’s digital and media lives : The case of Romanipen

The article discusses the possible relevance and value of parents’ cultural beliefs, and the research on them, to parental mediation and digital parenting theory and practice. It draws upon a small-scale ethnographic research conducted with seven Czech Roma families, which phenomenologically focused on young children’s media experience and learning. The possible role of parental ethnotheories and cultural experiences in general, and of romanipen in particular, in parental mediation and digital parenting emerged subsequently from the interviews with the children’s mothers. This article draws upon three family narratives that are used to illustrate how research into parental ethnotheories could possibly lead to an alternative interpretation of existing, and the construction of new, knowledge about parental mediation approaches, motivations and forms. Reflecting the participating Roma families’ lived experience, parental mediation and digital parenting are not differentiated in this article.Go to the full book to find a version of this chapter tagged for accessibility.