Research and analysis

Parental Media Literacy

Research exploring parents’ media literacy needs, evaluating current resources, and identifying ways to help keep children safe online.

Documents

Parental Media Literacy

Details

Parents play a pivotal role in shaping their children’s online experiences, and any gaps in parental media literacy can affect both their own and their children’s digital resilience.

Media literacy is being able to critically evaluate online information, understand that online actions have real-world consequences, contribute to a respectful online environment and help children navigate digital content safely.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) commissioned Ipsos to conduct qualitative research aimed at:

  • understanding parental media literacy needs and challenges
  • assessing the effectiveness of existing resources
  • identifying gaps in provision

Findings show that the primary gap in parental media literacy is the current lack of awareness and knowledge of existing resources.

The research highlights the importance of improving the visibility and delivery of media literacy resources through trusted channels to enhance online resilience among parents and children.

Updates to this page

Published 12 September 2025

Sign up for emails or print this page