For our children's sake, it's more important than ever that we not "black box" our media, whether as researchers or as parents and educators. An essay from psychologist and media professor Sonia Livingstone in the new scholarly journal Social Media + Society got me thinking about this. Dr. Livingstone observes that scholars in disciplines other than media and communications are doing that … [Read more...] about For kids’ sake, don’t ‘black box’ social media
Sonia Livingstone
Digital parenting: Individual, situational, contextual
It's so interesting to see what British psychologist Sonia Livingstone zooms in on in American psychologist Lynn Schofield Clark's book on parenting digital media users, The Parent App. Dr. Livingstone picked up on what I liked most about the book too: diversity and depth of insight. Dr. Clark interviewed "46 very different families" for a study that Livingstone calls "one of the most astute … [Read more...] about Digital parenting: Individual, situational, contextual
Youth participation’s growing momentum
It's exciting to see the signs of adult support for youth voices and participation multiplying. It's important and it's time. Here is just a sampler of this encouraging trend: Agency for citizenship. In Internet safety circles, we're seeing increasing focus on citizenship (online and offline) rather than on safety alone – safety as a means to competent participation and expression in … [Read more...] about Youth participation’s growing momentum
Kids’ top social media picks: New resource for parents
Here's a super starting point for a conversation with your children about social media: NetAware, a brand-new set of reviews of kids' top social media services. It's not the first such resource for parents, but two things set it apart: These are kids' own top social media picks. This isn't adult guesswork. Because part of its mission is to "ensure the voices of children are heard in … [Read more...] about Kids’ top social media picks: New resource for parents
Two 2014 anniversaries that say reams about our kids’ futures
We don't want to let 2014 slip away without marking two anniversaries that are very important to our children: those of an invention and a convention. This year was the 25th anniversary of Tim Berners-Lee's release of his computer code creating the World Wide Web, now with some 3 billion users worldwide, and the 25th anniversary of the UN's adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child … [Read more...] about Two 2014 anniversaries that say reams about our kids’ futures