Parents' beliefs and evaluations of young children's computer use

THIS PAPER PRESENTS PARENTS’ beliefs about how and why their young children are using computers. Fifty-one parents completed two questionnaires (before and after a seven-month computer intervention) and findings suggest that parents hold positive beliefs about computer use by their children, mostly for enhancing their educational development and their technological awareness. Parents also referred to connections between children’s computer use and children’s self-characteristics. However, parents did not consider engaging with computers as influential on children’s development as sports or other social activities. The need for further research on young children’s home computer use (and other technologies) is underlined together with implications for parents and the early childhood sector.