Pola Komunikasi Orang Tua dan Anak dalam Penggunaan Gadget dalam Kerangka Literasi Digital Keluarga di Kota Medan

Abstract

Gadgets represent a form of technological development in Indonesia, facilitating long-distance communication and offering various features such as media, entertainment, games, and current information. However, gadgets also pose negative impacts on their users, including promoting individualism, hindering socialization, and disrupting the motor and psychological development of children, without a clear age limit for use. Children have broad access to information technology, notably smartphones, tablets, and personal computers. Consequently, parental supervision in their children’s use of digital media is crucial for fostering digital literacy. This research delves into the communication patterns between parents and children when using gadgets within the context of family digital literacy. Employing descriptive qualitative methods, the study gathers information through in-depth interviews. It involves six respondents, characterized as millennial-generation parents with children aged 6-12 years who use digital media. These respondents are spread across several sub-districts: Medan Johor, Medan Helvetia, Medan Selayang, Medan Tuntungan, and Medan Polonia. The findings reveal diverse communication patterns among the informants: one family uses a permissive pattern, two families an authoritative pattern, and three families an authoritarian pattern. The study suggests that an effective communication pattern for parent-child interactions in the context of family digital literacy combines democratic and authoritarian approaches, allowing parents to foster a friendly relationship with their children while maintaining authority in management and education.