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This study aims to uncover in-depth examples of how emergent media affects parents’ views and socialization efforts. The study examines these views and efforts in the context of violent commercials.

The authors collected data for this paper using two studies. In Study 1, they collected data from the internet. Comments related to “violent ads” or “violent commercials” were collated and analyzed. For Study 2, they conducted in-depth interviews with mothers on their views on parental mediation and impact of media on their children.

The internet data helped develop a parental definition of violent ads and identify that parents lie on a continuum regarding their concerns about violent commercials. Further in-depth questioning of parents on the above finding led to the identification of four clusters of parents. “Media managers” attempt to control and restrict their child’s media environment while educating their child about the effects of violent commercials. “Enablers” spend abundant time co-viewing primetime TV while engaging their child in conversations on violence, but not on violent ads. To maintain harmony in the household, “Harmonizers” merely restrict viewing of violent commercials without educating their child about its effects. Finally, “Agent evaluators” are likely to co-view violent commercials, without discussing them with their child.

First, several of the parental segments (media managers, enablers and harmonizers) tend to note some concerns with violence in advertising. Importantly, this concern for violence appears to be limited to gore and use of physical weapon. Second, while parents do not have homogenous views on violent ads, those who are concerned also have differing roots of concern. This influences their mediation efforts. Third, socialization is bi-directional at times.

Many parents do not approve are the use of physical violence, use of weapons and depiction of blood/gore even in ads for movies or videogames. Advertisers might be wise to avoid such content in ads directed to children. Second, if media and marketing managers could plan to sponsor TV shows (vs placing violent ads) that offer ad-free program time, parents might respond positively. Third, as socialization is bi-directional, advertisers could consider using ad scenarios where parents and children engage with the pros and cons of a certain product or content, thus enabling parent-child conversations to make an informed decision.

Many parents notice violence in ads; policymakers could consider developing ratings for ads that consider the amount and type of violence while rating an ad. Second, a focus on increasing parental awareness on the harms of constantly exposing children to violent commercials might change the views of some parents who currently believe that a few or no violent commercials are being aired during children’s programs. Finally, parents envisage a greater role for media in their lives, and policymakers will have to suggest ways to effectively integrate media content in one’s lives rather than just suggest bans or restrictions.

The contributions of this paper include viewers’ (vs researchers’) definition of violent commercials, showcasing that parents are likely to manage media using new media options such as Netflix, and some parents are likely to co-create rules with their children.

Considers the exclusionary processes arising from the way in which fathers are excluded from childcare activities. Outlines the parental leave provisions in the UK and explores the nature of the assumptions made about fatherhood. Compares the take up of parental leave by both men and women in other European countries. Concludes that whilst the current system supports a balanced work and home life but the significant gender differences in take‐up of parental leave between men and women means that legislation may be making gender division with respect to early childcare more marked rather than reduced.

This paper aims to explore the correlates of parental mediation of pre-schoolers’ television advertising exposure, focusing on the influence of other siblings in the home.

Participants included 486 parents of pre-schoolers. A cross-sectional design involving a quantitative online survey measured the number and age of children in the home, parents’ mediation styles and advertising attitudes, parents’ levels of education and pre-schoolers’ television exposure.

Co-viewing was the most frequent viewing experience followed by instructive and restrictive mediation. A univariate analysis revealed that parental education and negative attitudes towards advertising were associated with less viewing time for pre-schoolers, although the presence of other siblings mediated this relationship. Logistic regression revealed mediation styles were associated with parental education, attitudes towards advertising, viewing time and the presence of other siblings. Pre-schoolers with an older sibling were less likely to experience co-viewing and more likely to experience instructive mediation.

The findings revealed that parents of pre-schoolers are concerned about advertising to children and actively mediate their child’s exposure. Parental attitudes and education, and sibling composition influence pre-schoolers’ television consumption, and pre-schoolers with an older sibling might be most vulnerable to negative media effects. The sample was limited to primarily higher educated parents and might not generalize.

The study extends the field by focusing on pre-schoolers and provides novel insights into the influence of sibling composition on television consumption.

Much of the discussion surrounding the antivaccine movement focuses on the decision of parents to not vaccinate their children and the resulting danger posed to others. However, the primary risk is borne by the child left unvaccinated. Although living in a developed country with high vaccination rates provides a certain amount of protection through population immunity, the unvaccinated child is still exposed to a considerably greater risk of preventable diseases than one who is vaccinated. I explore the tension between parental choice and the child’s right to be free of preventable diseases. The chapter’s goal is twofold: to advocate for moving from a dyadic framework – considering the interests of the parents against those of the state – to a triadic one, in which the interests of the child are given as much weight as those of the parent and the state; and to discuss which protections are available, and how they can be improved. Specific legal tools available to protect that child are examined, including tort liability of the parents to the child, whether and to what degree criminal law has a role, under what circumstances parental choice should be overridden, and the role of school immunization requirements in protecting the individual child.

This study aims to examine how the perceptions of hospitality and tourism management (HTM) undergraduates about their parental influences predict their career choice intention with regard to the hospitality and tourism (H&T) industry in China.

A self‐administered questionnaire containing 22 parental influence attributes was given to both junior and senior students studying HTM programmes. Primary research on students' perceptions of parental influences on career choice has been undertaken in ten universities across five cities in China, with 566 valid samples acquired as a result.

Three out of six parental influential factors derived from 22 attributes are determined as being the salient predictors for students' H&T career choice intention. Those three factors are “perceived parental supports of the H&T industry”, “perceived parental career concerns about welfare and prestige”, and “perceived parental barriers to career choice”. Demographic differences in parental influential factors are also revealed in the study.

The findings need to be confirmed by further evidence from other countries with different cultures. Future research should investigate students studying different majors, or at various educational levels. The variables of internship experience and colleges or universities being attended also deserve more attention. Another interesting topic would be to study parental influences on career choice from the parents' perspectives.

The knowledge obtained from the study will increase the very limited understanding of the effects of perceived parental influences on career choice, which might then lead to more attraction and recruitment of students to the H&T industry in China.

The current study examines how mainland Chinese parents communicate with their children about consumption and advertising. A survey of 1,665 parents of children aged six to 14 in Beijing, Nanjing and Chengdu was conducted in December 2001 to March 2002. Using Moore and Moschis’s typology of family communication patterns, Chinese parents are classified into four types including laissez‐faire, protective, pluralistic, and consensual parents. Results indicated Chinese parents are classified primarily as consensual in type with both high socio‐ as well as concept‐oriented communication. Family communication patterns differ among parents of different demographic groups as well as among different dyad relationships. Parents with a higher education level and families with a higher household income engaged more frequently in concept‐oriented communication. Pluralistic and consensual parents discussed with children about television commercials more often than laissez‐faire and protective parents. Consensual parents perceived they have a greater influence on children’s attitude toward advertising than laissez‐faire parents. Implication for marketers and advertisers are discussed.

Rooted in adult fear, adult authority aims to protect and control youth (Gannon, 2008; Valentine, 1997). Continuously negotiating for freedom, youth search for adult-free public spaces and are therefore extremely attracted to social networking sites (boyd, 2007, 2014). However, a significant portion of youth now includes adult authorities within their Facebook networks (Madden et al., 2013). Thus, this study explores how youth navigate familial- and educational-adult authorities across social networking sites in relation to their local peer culture.

Through semi-structured interviews, including youth-centered and participant-driven social media tours, 82 youth from the Northeast region of the United States of America (9–17 years of age; 43 females and 39 males) shared their lived experiences and perspectives about social media during the summer of 2013.

In their everyday lives, youth are subjected to the normative expectations emerging from peer culture, school, and family life. Within these different and at times conflicting normative schemas, youth’s social media use is subject to adult authority. In response, youth develop intricate ways to navigate adult authority across social networking sites.

Adult fear is powerful, but fragile to youth’s interpretation; networked publics are now regulated and youth’s ability to navigate then is based on their social location; and youth’s social media use must be contextualized to be holistically understood.

This paper aims to examine how parental mediation of children's television viewing varies among urban and rural children in China.

A survey of 1,056 children ages 6 to 14 in nine Chinese provinces was conducted. Independent sample t‐tests were performed to make rural‐urban comparisons. Correlation analyses were provided on the relationships between parental mediation styles and children's television usage, and between parental mediation styles and children's purchase request.

The paper finds that urban parents engage in more instructive mediation and restrictive mediation than rural parents. Urban parents use restrictive mediation the more often, while rural parents use co‐viewing the more frequently. Only urban children's television viewing has a significantly positive relationship with co‐viewing with their parents. In general, children's purchase request is positively related to parental mediation styles in rural and urban China (except for restrictive mediation in rural areas).

The study is based on an analysis of secondary data. Future studies should adopt established scales of parental mediation styles for the Chinese context.

The findings should help public policy makers understand the dynamic parents‐children interactions with television, and help marketers find effective and efficient ways to reach young Chinese consumers.

The study represents a preliminary effort to examine the antecedents of television parental mediation, its occurrence, and its potential effects in the Chinese context.

Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System’s model, this study documented acculturation and parental involvement in low-income Chinese immigrant homes that serve as predictors of parental mediation. By surveying 165 parents of 3–13-year-old immigrant children, this study found that low-income Chinese parents enacted restrictive mediation the most and exhibited a slow acculturation process even after an average of seven years of emigration. Higher parental acculturation was related to a higher use of active and restrictive mediation. Additionally, different aspects of parental involvement also served as predictors of the three mediation strategies. Chinese cultural emphasis on academic excellence and success was used to help interpret the findings. Future research should consider implementing research-based adult media literacy programs for immigrant parents to help them practice their parental mediation skills in the host culture.