What exactly is retro parenting, Paula Bleckmann?

Prof. Dr. Paula Bleckmann classifies the term and provides important impulses for development-oriented media education.

Children without smartphones, more time outdoors, fewer overscheduled afternoons: the term “retro parenting” is currently being used to discuss a parenting trend in which parents consciously draw on experiences from their own childhood. Dr. Paula Bleckmann, Professor of Media Education at Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, is also examining this phenomenon.

From an educational perspective, this approach can provide important impulses. Prof. Dr. Paula Bleckmann views the reduced use of digital media in particular positively. The comparatively late use of television, game consoles or smartphones, as was common in many families in the past, is often better aligned with children’s developmental stages.

Bleckmann sees a central problem in today’s media environments in the fact that digital offerings satisfy needs for entertainment and distraction very quickly. However, this can come at the expense of children’s curiosity. If information is available at any time with a click, there is a risk that children will develop fewer questions of their own or stick with one thing for a longer period of time.

Bleckmann explains: “More time for free play, more time outdoors, allowing more boredom, trusting children with greater independence, less screen time, more analogue family time. These are very beneficial conditions for healthy growing up, especially for healthy brain development.” At the same time, Bleckmann warns against idealizing the past. The childhood of the 1990s was also embedded in social structures that have now partly been overcome — such as traditional family role models. In addition, a very restrictive approach to digital media can also create social challenges for children, for example if they are strongly excluded from common forms of communication within their circle of friends. She recommends that parents not view the topic in isolation, but rather join initiatives and exchange ideas with others.

Bleckmann therefore considers the term “retro parenting” somewhat misleading. It is less about returning nostalgically to the past and more about preparing children for the future. What matters are skills such as communication, creativity and critical thinking — abilities that often emerge precisely through analogue experiences and real encounters.

More on the current debate appeared in the Frankfurter Rundschau on 20 February 2026. Read the article here.