The increasingly digitalized world in which we live and in which our children move as "digital natives" presents parents, but also society as a whole, with ever new challenges. In recent years there has been rapid technological development, which has led to a large part of the social life of many young people, and increasingly also of children, taking place online. Grandparents skype with their grandchildren, family and class chats as well as friends in social networks make it possible to stay in constant contact, etc. In our counselling, we meet parents who can no longer comprehend the implicitness with which their children move through social networks and chat groups, as well as the great importance that these digital relationship tools have for their children. They are worried, have no strategies for action and run the risk of damaging contact with their children by simple prohibitions. At the same time, they are often not sufficiently aware of their role as role models in this respect and do not reflect the digital parts of their own social relationships, or only slightly so. We want to find out how much and in what form digital relationships are lived in European families and how this affects them. A further question will be whether parents in other European countries are able to cope with this challenge and what solutions they have found. This is why we want to exchange ideas in the consortium, work together on this topic and make our ideas available to as many parents, grandparents and children working with children in Europe as possible. To this end, there will initially be research in the individual partner countries, which will provide an overview of the current state of knowledge and research on the topic. In the course of the project, each partner in his or her country will conduct and evaluate partially standardized conversations with at least 5 families (traditional, rainbow families or single parents) and present them to the other partners in a meeting. In social science research, this type of survey is used to investigate facts that are represented in subjective experience and to conduct basic research. Both conditions apply here, as digital relations are a relatively new phenomenon and inductive conclusions can give a first impression of the situation. The results of the survey will be summarised and published towards the end of the project. This means that within the framework of the survey alone, at least 30 families (approx. 80-100 persons) will be reached, who in turn will report on this to their friends who might be parents as well. Interested persons, stakeholders and multipliers can be invited to the partner meetings in their country as required, so that they have the opportunity to get to know partners from other countries and experience international cooperation on the project. Therefore, the partner meetings will also contribute to the dissemination of the project results. Further dissemination will take place via social networks and the partners' homepages and institutional events. In this way, "DigiRe" will arouse sensitivity to the topic, stimulate public debate and further professionalise and network the partner organisations.
The increasingly digitalised world in which we live and in which our children move as "digital natives" poses ever new challenges for parents, but also for society as a whole. In recent years, a rapid technological development has taken place, which has led to the fact that the social life of many young people, and increasingly also of children, takes place online to a large extent. Grandparents skype with their grandchildren, family and class chats and friends in social networks make it possible to stay in constant contact, etc. Parents who come to our counselling services are often unable to understand the naturalness with which their children move around in social networks and chat groups, as well as the high value that these digital relationship tools have for their children. They are worried, have no strategies for action and run the risk of damaging contact with their children through simple prohibitions. At the same time, they are often not sufficiently aware of their role model function in this respect and do not reflect the digital parts of their own social relationships, or only to a limited extent. We wanted to find out to what extent and in what form digital relationships are lived in families and how this affects families. A further question was whether parents in other European countries feel the same way, how they deal with this challenge and what solutions they have found. Therefore, we exchanged ideas in the consortium, worked together on the topic and made our ideas and results available to as many parents, grandparents and people working with children in Europe as possible. We have started with a research in the individual partner countries, which gives an overview of the current state of knowledge and research on the topic. Subsequently, each partner interviewed at least 5 families (traditional, patchwork families and single parents) in his or her country within the framework of partially standardised interviews, evaluated the interviews and presented the results to the other partners in a meeting. In social science research, this type of survey is used to investigate facts that are represented in subjective experience and to conduct basic research. Both conditions apply here, since digital relationships are a relatively new phenomenon and inductive conclusions can give a first impression of the facts. The results of the survey were summarised and published. This means that the survey alone reached at least 30 families in different countries (approx. 80-100 people), who in turn reported to befriended parents. By disseminating the results via various online platforms, the reach was greatly increased. Further dissemination will take place via the homepages and institutional events of the partners. The findings of the project have also been incorporated into the counselling and teaching activities of the partner organisations. Thus "DigiRe" has raised awareness of the topic, stimulated public discussion and further professionalised and interlinked the partner organisations.