Tablets im Familienalltag von Klein- und Vorschulkindern

“No media for children under three!”, this popular slogan is no longer valid as an advice for parents since the spreading of the touchscreen media. The study presents findings from parent interviews which were held in the context of a qualitative observational study of 2- to 6-year-old children on tablet handling. The mobile devices are used by the children at home almost entirely to play with apps and - at attaining the kindergarten age - also to watch video clips. Even if the parents now and then leave the tablet or smartphone to the children to get themselves time to manage the household, they nevertheless make clear by restrictions and rules that there has to be a modest, time limited use of the media. Yet the motivations of the parents to make their child familiar with digital media are quite different. They range from the presence of the media in family life which arouses the interest of the child, through the playful learning potential that can be used, up to submission to an apparent necessity that demands digitized modern society.