The Impact of the Digital Environment on Younger Students and Adolescents: Modern Trends in the Context of War and Crises

Abstract

The aim of the study is to determine the role of parents in controlling the interaction of younger school students (primary school) and adolescents with the digital environment during the duration of the martial law, to examine the emotional, evaluative and personal-semantic relations in the family environment that arise as a result of parental control over child’s digital interaction. 

Research methodology. To solve the research tasks, a number of special research methods were used: unstructured interviews, focus group, questionnaires, and Likert scale.

Results. The study of the vector of children's interaction with the digital / family environment during the active military invasion in Ukraine made it possible to state there are different trends in the assessment by children of different ages of the ease/difficulty of communication with parents (primary school children mark their own communication with parents as “very easy” by 10% more, adolescents, on the contrary, show a decrease in the share of those who find it easy to talk to their parents – by 8%). Aware of the dangerous trends of arbitrary and uncontrolled stay of the child in the digital environment, only 9.3% of parents refused to control network activity due to trust in the child. On the other hand, 57.1% of parents among those who answered that they exercise control “constantly” and “often” stressed that they face conflict situations from time to time. Relationships between parents and children that are based on feelings of kindness, love, care, concern, and respect for each other have a positive influence on the development of the child, determined by meaningful emotional and volitional efforts and manifested in real interpersonal situations.

Novelty. The study of the factors of favorable / unfavourable influence of the digital / family environment on the emotional and psychological state of children against the background of active hostilities in Ukraine, clarification of the role of parents in controlling the interaction of younger students and adolescents with the digital environment under martial law is carried out for the first time.

The practical significance. The obtained results will contribute to the study of the impact of the social environment on the development of children, taking into account different age groups of children; defining a system of indicators for the successful impact of the digital environment on children of different age groups.

Key words: digital environment, network activity, social networks, virtual agents of socialization.