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In the popular press, much is made about how new digital technologies such as iPads and smartphones are revolutionizing family life. Children and parents alike now have a growing stream of new technological resources at their fingertips, offering increased opportunities for engagement, entertainment, and education. But while anecdotes about families and media abound, empirical evidence on national trends is much harder to come by. This study explores how parents are incorporating new digital technologies (iPads, smartphones) as well as older media platforms (TV, video games, and computers) into their family lives and parenting practices: * What does the family media and technology environment look like today? * How widely have mobile media technologies been adopted? Are they making parents' lives easier? * How does the role of newer technologies compare to that of "traditional" platforms like television, or to other technologies such as computers and video games? * How do parents use media and technology as a parenting tool, to help them get things done, or to educate their children? * What role do media and technology play in families' "together" time? * How do different parenting practices and parents' own levels of media and technology use affect the use patterns of children in the home? The study focuses on families with young children and explores what is actually happening in the lives of real families, from all walks of life. It is based on an extensive survey of a nationally representative sample of more than 2,300 parents of children from birth to eight years old. (The complete survey questionnaire and results are provided in the appendix.) The survey was informed by a series of four focus groups among parents of young children, conducted in California and Illinois. While parents' comments from the focus groups and from the survey are included throughout the report, the key findings a

"Most parents are not all that worried about the role of technology in their children's lives. And they are more likely to rely on books and analog activities than digital devices to keep their children busy. Those are the conclusions of a new survey released this week.  Based on a nationally representative survey of more than 2,300 parents of children from birth to 8-years-old, the study examines how media is being incorporated into family life. We sat down with Alexis Lauricella, one of the study's coauthors to hear more. Lauricella is a research associate at Northwestern University's Center on Media and Human Development. Her work examines children's learning from media as well as parents' and teachers' attitudes toward media and how they use it with young children. "

"REPORT: Parenting in the Age of Digital Technology" from the conference "Parenting in the Age of Digital Technology: How Families Use Media and Technology in their Daily Lives"