A Digital Gap in Polish Families on the Example of Video Games

This extended abstract, presented at DiGRA 2018, examines how video games feature in the everyday life of Polish families, with a particular focus on rural households. Its central argument is that the growing popularity of games, which are interactive and therefore unlike traditional non-interactive media, has outpaced the knowledge and engagement of parents, schools, and institutions responsible for raising young players. The author frames the topic as an underexplored area in game studies, positioning country dwellers as a group facing limited access to information and support.

The study combines a questionnaire survey with interviews, a methodological triangulation intended to capture the perspectives of both parents and adolescents, mainly school-aged children. The sample consists of twenty-four surveyed families. The analysis addresses several dimensions: the sociodemographic profile and technological and cultural competencies of gamers and parents, parental knowledge of video games, parent-child communication about gaming, the broader role of games within family life, and the support offered by social groups, schools, and other institutions.

The findings point to several concerning patterns. Parents often showed low cultural and technological competencies, limited parental control over gaming, and restricted communication with their children about games. Parental involvement in children's gaming was also low, and schools and other institutions offered little support for families in this area. These observations are interpreted through Margaret Mead's typology of postfigurative, cofigurative, and prefigurative cultures and William Ogburn's concept of cultural lag, which together suggest that generational gaps in digital knowledge drive the observed disparities.

The abstract acknowledges the limits of its scope, given the small sample and its regional focus, but argues that the results reveal the complexity of the topic. Its broader contribution lies in drawing attention to a digital gap within families and to the need for greater parental and institutional engagement with video games.