Young children, the vast world of digital media

Key Takeaways: 

• Supporting children’s digital upbringing: Digital media are already part of everyday life for many families, even among young children.
• Skills instead of restrictions: The FHV research project TraFam empowers parents and professionals to feel more confident in dealing with digital media.
• Developed together: Families, professionals, and researchers jointly design the instructional format through a co-creation process.
• Sharing knowledge: Parents and professionals are trained as advocates and share their knowledge throughout the region in a sustainable way.  

Smartphones, tablets, and streaming services have long been part of everyday family life. At the same time, many parents ask themselves: How much screen time is appropriate? How can media use be designed to meet a child’s age? And how can this be achieved amid the often challenging realities of family life?

This is precisely where the TraFam research project—launched in June 2026 and funded by the Lake Constance Four-Country Region Science Network with grants from the Interreg VI Alpine Rhine-Lake Constance-Upper Rhine program—comes in (Transformation Skills for Reflective Media Use in Families with Young Children), which was launched in June 2026 and is funded by the Interreg VI Alpine Rhine-Lake Constance-Upper Rhine program, comes into play. Together, researchers from the Empirical Social Sciences research group at FHV – Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences and the University of Teacher Education St. Gallen are collaborating with parents, experts, and regional partners to develop a novel educational format designed to empower families in their use of digital media. 

Developing solutions together for everyday digital family life 

What makes this project unique is that parents and professionals are not merely viewed as target groups but actively design the format from the very beginning. Scientific findings, experiences from family work, and families’ everyday knowledge are brought together in a co-creation process. The goal is to jointly develop solutions that are scientifically sound and, at the same time, work in everyday family life.

“The question today is no longer whether children grow up with digital media, but how we can support them in this process in an age-appropriate way. Our goal is to work with families to develop practical solutions that can be easily integrated into everyday family life,” emphasizes Sarah Kühne, project manager of the Empirical Social Sciences research group at the FHV.  

By families, for families: knowledge that has a lasting impact 

TraFam goes a step further than traditional information or prevention programs. Parents and professionals not only gain knowledge and practical skills but are also trained to serve as multipliers. Through continuing education and peer-to-peer formats, they share their experiences and strategies with other families. This creates a sustainable transfer of knowledge that extends far beyond the immediate project participants.

“In our work, we see that parents are seeking guidance and are often confused by conflicting recommendations. The project creates spaces for exchange on an equal footing and supports families in finding individualized, practical approaches to dealing with digital media,” explains Fabienne Lunardi, project manager at the implementing partner SUPRO.

In the long term, the teaching format is to be integrated into existing regional parent education programs. Together with partners in Vorarlberg and the canton of St. Gallen, this will create a cross-border network that connects research, family work, and educational programs, thereby sustainably strengthening the transfer of scientific findings into practice.

Contact:

Dr.in Sarah KÜHNE, MSc BSc
Scientist

+43 5572 792 3220