Adaptation for Harmony: A Thematic Analysis Study of Internet Parental Monitoring Strategy in Indonesian Context

Abstract

The digital parenting realm raised a charm in exploring unique internet monitoring strategies of middle schoolers' daily lives as an authentic phenomenon of increasing youth cybernaut in Indonesia. This study explores parents' patterns of strategies in monitor their children's online activities. A total of 171 parents involved in this study filled out an open-ended survey, where we analyzed their answers using a combination of six steps of Braun and Clarke's (2006) Thematic Analysis procedure and De Farias et al.'s (2020) logical procedure of similarity with MAXQDA 2020 visual tools. The central theme emerged the internet monitoring strategies: regulation, guidance, trust-space, and direct intervention. From parents' perspective, the effective internet parental monitoring strategy was not only proactive but also reactive, especially when children were directly exposed to the online risks or violated the family media use agreement. Parents were optimizing the benefits of children online activity and minimizing the online risks. Parents were also concerned about the top three vital psycho-social factors: generosity, self-control, and critical-technical skills in mastering the cyberworld. Afterward, parents with children of a specific middle schoolers group tend to talk about strategies of internet parental monitoring.