Abstract
This commentary considers adolescents’ media habits and the ways they can guide future research on parental mediation. Three lessons from “tomorrow’s parents” are applied: (1) teens are accustomed to on-demand media, (2) teens are used to multitasking with multiple screens, and (3) teens have come to expect media targeted specifically to them. From these lessons, researchers should consider focusing their work on parenting strategies that are responsive to individual differences among children, easily accessible during media use, and rigorously tested for effectiveness. The commentary concludes with a call to direct future research in ways that will help future parents’ do a better job of mediating children’s media use.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.