A collection of feminist cultural studies essays on children's television.

This essential volume brings together the work of internationally-renowned researchers, each experts in their field, in order to capture the diversity of children and young people′s media cultures around the world. Why are the media such a crucial part of children′s daily lives? Are they becoming more important, more influential, and in what ways? Or does a historical perspective reveal how past media have long framed children′s cultural horizons or, perhaps, how families - however constituted - have long shaped the ways children relate to media? In addressing such questions, the contributors present detailed empirical cases to uncover how children weave together diverse forms and technologies to create a rich symbolic tapestry which, in turn, shapes their social relationships. At the same time, many concerns - even public panics - arise regarding children′s engagement with media, leading the contributors also to inquire into the risky or problematic aspects of today′s highly mediated world. Deliberately selected to represent as many parts of the globe as possible, and with a commitment to recognizing both the similarities and differences in children and young people′s lives - from China to Denmark, from Canada to India, from Japan to Iceland, from - the authors offer a rich contextualization of children′s engagement with their particular media and communication environment, while also pursuing cross-cutting themes in terms of comparative and global trends. Each chapter provides a clear orientation for new readers to the main debates and core issues addressed, combined with a depth of analysis and argumentation to stimulate the thinking of advanced students and established scholars. Since children and young people are a focus of study across different disciplines, the volume is thoroughly multi-disciplinary. Yet since children and young people are all too easily neglected by these same disciplines, this volume hopes to accord their interests and concerns they surely merit.

‘Young People and Social Media: Contemporary Children’s Digital Culture’ explores the practices, relationships, consequences, benefits, and outcomes of children’s experiences with, on, and through social media by bringing together a vast array of different ideas about childhood, youth, and young people’s lives. These ideas are drawn from scholars working in a variety of disciplines, and rather than just describing the social construction of childhood or an understanding of children’s lives, this collection seeks to encapsulate not only how young people exist on social media but also how their physical lives are impacted by their presence on social media. One of the aims of this volume in exploring youth interaction with social media is to unpack the structuring of digital technologies in terms of how young people access the technology to use it as a means of communication, a platform for identification, and a tool for participation in their larger social world. During longstanding and continued experience in the broad field of youth and digital culture, we have come to realize that not only is the subject matter increasing in importance at an immeasurable rate, but the amount of textbooks and/or edited collections has lagged behind considerably. There is a lack of sources that fully encapsulate the canon of texts for the discipline or the rich diversity and complexity of overlapping subject areas that create the fertile ground for studying young people’s lives and culture. The editors hope that this text will occupy some of that void and act as a catalyst for future interdisciplinary collections. ‘Young People and Social Media: Contemporary Children’s Digital Culture’ will appeal to undergraduate students studying Child and Youth Studies and—given the interdisciplinary nature of the collection— scholars, researchers and students at all levels working in anthropology, psychology, sociology, communication studies, cultural studies, media studies, education, and human rights, among others. Practitioners in these fields will also find this collection of particular interest.

In Kids Rule! Sarah Banet-Weiser examines the cable network Nickelodeon in order to rethink the relationship between children, media, citizenship, and consumerism. Nickelodeon is arguably the most commercially successful cable network ever. Broadcasting original programs such as Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, and Rugrats (and producing related movies, Web sites, and merchandise), Nickelodeon has worked aggressively to claim and maintain its position as the preeminent creator and distributor of television programs for America’s young children, tweens, and teens. Banet-Weiser argues that a key to its success is its construction of children as citizens within a commercial context. The network’s self-conscious engagement with kids—its creation of a “Nickelodeon Nation” offering choices and empowerment within a world structured by rigid adult rules—combines an appeal to kids’ formidable purchasing power with assertions of their political and cultural power. Banet-Weiser draws on interviews with nearly fifty children as well as with network professionals; coverage of Nickelodeon in both trade and mass media publications; and analysis of the network’s programs. She provides an overview of the media industry within which Nickelodeon emerged in the early 1980s as well as a detailed investigation of its brand-development strategies. She also explores Nickelodeon’s commitment to “girl power,” its ambivalent stance on multiculturalism and diversity, and its oft-remarked appeal to adult viewers. Banet-Weiser does not condemn commercial culture nor dismiss the opportunities for community and belonging it can facilitate. Rather she contends that in the contemporary media environment, the discourses of political citizenship and commercial citizenship so thoroughly inform one another that they must be analyzed in tandem. Together they play a fundamental role in structuring children’s interactions with television.

Childhood and children's culture are regularly in the forefront of debates about how society is changing - often, it is argued, for the worse. Some of the most visible changes are new media technology; digital television; the internet; portable entertainment systems such as games, mobile phones, i-pods and so on. Television, the most popular medium with children for the last thirty years, is becoming less so. This book is intended to broaden the public debate about the role of popular media in children's lives. Its definition of 'media' is wide-ranging: not just television and the internet, but also still-popular forms such as fairy tales, children's literature - including the triumphantly successful Harry Potter series - and playground games. It sets these discussions within a framework of historical, sociological and psychological approaches to the study of children and childhood. At times of rapid technological change, public anxieties always arise about how children can be protected from new harmful influences. The book addresses the perennial controversies around media 'effects' from a range of academic perspectives. It examines critically the view that technology has dramatically changed modern children's lives, and looks at how technology has both changed, and sustained, children's cultural experiences in different times and places. Does new interactive technology give children a 'voice'? It can permit children to be their own authors and to engage in civil society, as well as to explore taboo and potentially dangerous areas. The book discusses how children can use technology to enhance their role as 'citizens in the making', as well its utilizing more playful applications. The book includes interviews with both producers and consumers - media workers, and children and their families, and has historical and contemporary illustrations.

The absolute authority on Third Culture Kids for nearly two decades! In this 3rd edition of the ground-breaking global classic, Ruth E. Van Reken and Michael V. Pollock, son of the late original co-author, David C. Pollock, have significantly updated what is widely recognized as "The TCK Bible." Emphasis is on the modern TCK and addressing the impact of technology, cultural complexity, diversity and inclusion and transitions. Includes new advice for parents and others for how to support TCKs as they navigate work, relationships, social settings and their own personal development. New to this edition: · A second PolVan Cultural Identity diagram to support understanding of cultural identity · New models for identity formation · Updated explanation of unresolved grief · New material on "highly mobile communities" addressing the needs of people who stay put while a community around them moves rapidly · Revamped Section III so readers can more easily find what is relevant to them as Adult TCKs, parents, counselors, employers, spouses, administrators, etc. · New "stages and needs" tool that will help families and organizations identify and meet needs · Greater emphasis on tools for educators as they grapple with demographic shifts in the classroom

This companion presents the newest research in this important area, showcasing the huge diversity in children’s relationships with digital media around the globe, and exploring the benefits, challenges, history, and emerging developments in the field. Children are finding novel ways to express their passions and priorities through innovative uses of digital communication tools. This collection investigates and critiques the dynamism of children's lives online with contributions fielding both global and hyper-local issues, and bridging the wide spectrum of connected media created for and by children. From education to children's rights to cyberbullying and youth in challenging circumstances, the interdisciplinary approach ensures a careful, nuanced, multi-dimensional exploration of children’s relationships with digital media. Featuring a highly international range of case studies, perspectives, and socio-cultural contexts, The Routledge Companion to Digital Media and Children is the perfect reference tool for students and researchers of media and communication, family and technology studies, psychology, education, anthropology, and sociology, as well as interested teachers, policy makers, and parents.

Childhood is increasingly saturated by technology: from television to the Internet, video games to 'video nasties', camcorders to personal computers. Children, Technology and Culture looks at the interplay of children and technology which poses critical questions for how we understand the nature of childhood in late modern society. This collection brings together researchers from a range of disciplines to address the following four aspects of this relationship between children and technology: *children's access to technologies and the implications for social relationships *the structural contexts of children's engagement with technologies with a focus on gender and the family *the situatedness of children's interactions with technological objects *the constitution of children and childhood through the mediations of technology _ This book represents a substantial contribution to contemporary social scientific thinking both about the nature of children and childhood, the social impacts of technologies and the various relationships between the two.

The roles that media play in the lives of children and adolescents, as well as their potential implications for their cognitive, emotional, social and behavioral development, have attracted growing research attention in a variety of disciplines. The Routledge International Handbook of Children, Adolescents and Media analyses a broad range of complementary areas of study, including children as media consumers, children as active participants in media making, and representations of children in the media. The handbook presents a collection that spans a variety of disciplines including developmental psychology, media studies, public health, education, feminist studies and the sociology of childhood. Essays provide a unique intellectual mapping of current knowledge, exploring the relationship of children and media in local, national, and global contexts. Divided into five parts, each with an introduction explaining the themes and topics covered, the handbook features 57 new contributions from 71 leading academics from 38 countries. Chapters consider vital questions by analyzing texts, audience, and institutions, including: the role of policy and parenting in regulating media for children the relationships between children’s’ on-line and off-line social networks children’s strategies of resistance to persuasive messages in advertising media and the construction of gender and ethnic identities The Handbook’s interdisciplinary approach and comprehensive, international scope make it an authoritative, state of the art guide to the nascent field of Children’s Media Studies. It will be indispensable for media scholars and professionals, policy makers, educators, and parents.

This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of the complexity and diversity of audience studies in the advent of digital media. Details the study of audiences and how it is changing in relation to digital media Recognizes and appreciates valuable traditional approaches and identifies how they can be applied to, and evolve with, the changing media world Offers diverse perspectives from which being an audience, theorizing audiences, researching audiences, and doing audience research are approached today Argues that the field works best by identifying particular 'audience problems' and applying the best theories and research methods available to solving them Includes contributions from some of the most outstanding international scholars in the field