Child Safety in Media: Regulation and Family Mediation

Child Protection in the Digital Age

Key Stakeholders in Child Protection

• First Level: Family and school
• Second Level: Media and public authorities

Elements Affecting Child Protection

Regulation: A comprehensive set of legal norms and ethical codes addressing child protection. These are established by both public institutions and private entities, and can be local, national, or international.

Types of Regulatory Frameworks

• Legal Regulations
• Self-Regulation Codes
• Family Mediation
• Education for Communication

Compliance with Self-Regulation Codes for Television Content

Various bodies are responsible for ensuring compliance with the Code of Self-Regulation of Television Content and Children's Rights:

Self-Regulation Committee

Composed by:

• Television operators who have signed the code
• Producers of television content
• Federation of Press Associations

Functions:

• Issuing opinions on questions presented by TV operators.
• Addressing complaints or claims submitted by associations of parents, educators, youth, children, consumers, and users across Spain.

Joint Monitoring Committee

Composed by:

• Members of the Self-Regulation Committee (SRC)
• Organizations representing civil society relevant to the code's purpose

Note: The Administration may be present with voice but no vote, assuming the secretariat of the Commission.

Functions:

• Ensuring the correct implementation of the code, especially if the SRC's opinions have not been addressed.
• Analyzing issues related to code enforcement.

Family Mediation in the Digital Era

Parents serve as the primary reference point during childhood. This role extends to their influence as consumers of media and technologies.

Key Issues in Parental Mediation of Media and ICT

• Time: Controlling both the time of day when exposure to media occurs and the overall duration of use.
• Content: Ensuring minors' access to harmful content is controlled.

Concept: Parental Control (PC) refers to technological devices and strategies that filter content to protect children.

Tasks in Family Mediation Related to Content (Messaris, 1982)

• Categorization: Helping children interpret media content.
• Validation: Expressing agreement or disagreement with the message conveyed.
• Complementarity: Adding supplementary information to the message.

Types of Parental Mediation

In relation to family mediation, three types of parents can be identified:

• Restrictive
• Permissive
• Counselors