The Parent-Child Relationship in the Light of Qualitative Research on the Role of Video Games in the Modern Family

Whenever we think about video games, usually we imagine a world of people utterly immersed in virtual worlds (the problem of addiction, escapism, etc.) or we see it as a space for innovative and subversive cultural change.

But the reality of digital entertainment is more complicated. One of such non-obvious problems is the socialization of young gamers. The relation between parents and a young gamer is crucial for those considerations.

Indeed, in many well-known and respected studies (e.g. conducted by Entertainment Software Association or Interactive Software Federation of Europe) we can find questions about parental control or joint use of video games.

However, in most cases these are declarative and quantitative studies, which measure digital and cultural competencies only by means of survey questions.

In my research I decided to investigate the issue of this relation, but by use of qualitative methods (including in-depth interview). Moreover, I decided to research this problem by focusing on families that live in rural areas in Poland – from where I myself come from – to emphasize the role of personal experience in social research.

I hope that my paper will demonstrate some complexity of the undertaken subject and especially draw your attention to the problems of a group that seems to be underestimated in the field of game studies, namely country dwellers.