Między ochroną a autonomią dziecka – rodzice o kontroli rodzicielskiej na forach internetowych

Due to the potential risks associated with children’s use of the Internet, it is necessary for parents to monitor their children’s online activities. This article presents the issue of parental mediation and the results of original research on parents’ understanding of parental control. The research material consisted of posts on thematic websites. The reconstruction of these posts revealed that parents understand control within five categories: as a response to contemporary times (responsiveness), a standard tool of upbringing (routine), a parent’s concern for the child (responsibility), an attribute of parental authority (domination), and an unnecessary artifact (nonsense). Parents’ statements reveal dilemmas regarding the use of various tools to monitor children’s activities, mainly of an ethical nature, and concerning family relationships. Parents who use monitoring tools remain in a dilemma between protecting the child and respecting their autonomy.