Children, Media, and Technology

An accessible introduction to children, media, and technology that centers questions of access, diversity, equity, and inclusion to provide a timely and much-needed text for communication and media studies students and scholars. This book covers several long-standing as well as contemporary issues and controversies pertaining to media and youth, such as violence, cyberbullying and online harassment; body image disturbances and beauty norms; and responses to increasingly sophisticated marketing strategies. It also fully explores the ways in which media and technology use enriches the lives of children and teens and empowers them, with positive implications for their sense of self; learning and education; sociality, friendships, and respect for others; and knowledge of and action in the world around them. In each of these lines of inquiry, up-to-date theory and research findings relevant to diverse young media users and questions of access, equity, representation, and inclusion make this a distinct approach to enhance students' understanding of children, media, and technology. This is an essential text for students of Media and Communication Studies taking courses such as Children and Media; Children, Teens, and Media; and Children, Adolescents, and Media, as well as similar classes being taught in related departments.

Erica Scharrer is Professor of Communication at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she studies the role of media in the lives of adolescents. She is the co-author of Quantitative Research Methods in Communication: The Power of Numbers for Social Justice with Srividya Ramasubramanian and Media and the American Child with George Comstock. Scharrer is also the editor of the Media Effects/Media Psychology volume of the International Encyclopedia of Media Studies, among other books and articles.

Part I: Landscapes/Contexts 1. Introduction 2. Access/Use 3. Representation 4. Parents/Caregivers 5. Media Literacy Education 6. Policies Part II: Interpretations/Implications 7. Social Identity 8. Body Image 9. Aggression 10. News/Politics 11. Learning 12.