The Meaning and the Demand of On-line Involvement in Parenting for Fathers Raising Young children

Objectives This study aimed to explore the meaning and the demand of online involvement in parenting for fathers raising young children. Methods To this end, a qualitative study centered on depth-interview with 8 fathers raising young children was conducted to specifically analyze the actual experiences of fathers in online involvement in parenting. Results First, it was analyzed that fathers' on-line involvement in parenting is meaningful as an effective channel for getting closer to their children through online and offline mixed play, personalized education through online-based customized information acquisition, further activating child-rearing-related communication, and achieving child-rearing goals and solving problems. Second, it was found that fathers required reliable standards for online parenting and educational information, family-friendly online content and platform development and dissemination, parental education support for content selection, and hardware support at the national and regional level to improve on-line involvement in parenting. Conclusions The main context of online involvement in parenting for fathers raising young children was the expansion of play between fathers and children through online and offline connection, and in this process, it was found that social and emotional meaning was formed to form a closer relationship with each other. In addition, it was found that fathers' online-based involvement in parenting enabled information tailored to their children's personal characteristics, enabling individualized education for children, and further activating communication with spouses and families and children.