Children and the Internet

Is the internet really transforming children and young people’s lives? Is the so-called ‘digital generation’ genuinely benefiting from exciting new opportunities? And, worryingly, facing new risks? <p>This major new book by a leading researcher addresses these pressing questions. It deliberately avoids a techno-celebratory approach and, instead, interprets children’s everyday practices of internet use in relation to the complex and changing historical and cultural conditions of childhood in late modernity. Uniquely, <i>Children and the Internet</i> reveals the complex dynamic between online opportunities and online risks, exploring this in relation to much debated issues such as:</p> <ul> <li>Digital in/exclusion</li> <li>Learning and literacy</li> <li>Peer networking and privacy</li> <li>Civic participation</li> <li>Risk and harm</li> </ul> <p>Drawing on current theories of identity, development, education and participation, this book includes a refreshingly critical account of the challenging realities undermining the great expectations held out for the internet – from governments, teachers, parents and children themselves. It concludes with a forward-looking framework for policy and regulation designed to advance children’s rights to expression, connection and play online as well as offline.</p>