Digital skills matter in the quest for the ‘holy grail’
As part of the European Commission Study on the impact of marketing through social media, online games and mobile applications on children’s behaviour, Sonia Livingstone and her colleagues published an analysis of a survey of 6,400 European parents to see whether they are finding the ‘holy grail’ of managing their children’s internet use. Today ...more
A digital Christmas?
As we approach Christmas, many parents will be buying new digital products of one kind or another for their children. Sonia Livingstone argues that not all will, and not all can afford to. Sonia is Professor of Social Psychology at LSE’s Department of Media and Communications and has more than 25 years of ...more
How do children use the internet? We asked thousands of kids around the world
Sonia Livingstone and Mariya Stoilova share key insights from the Global Kids Online Synthesis Report, produced by the UNICEF Office of Research – Innocenti and the LSE. The Global Kids Online project launched today at the Children’s Lives in the Digital Age seminar held at UNICEF Headquarters in New York, and aims to ...more
When parents choose ‘screen time’ – Real lives behind the new AAP guidelines
Alicia Blum-Ross discusses how the newly revised ‘screen time’ recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) are actively trying to address the diversity of parents, but the conversation around 'screen time' still lacks counterbalance to the negative messages parents often receive about digital media. She argues that research findings from the Parenting for a ...more
YouTube in The Class
Most children love YouTube, but what do they love about it? Sonia Livingstone unpacks the individual stories behind the shared fascination. Together with Julian Sefton-Green, she followed a class of London teenagers for a year to find out more about how they are, or in some cases are not, connecting online. The book ...more
Where and when does a parent’s right to share end online?
Alicia Blum-Ross shares insights from the Parenting for a Digital Future project and how parents assess the risks and benefits of ‘sharenting’. She discusses how parent bloggers decide what is OK to share online, where and with whom, as well as how they imagine their children will think about what they have chosen ...more
The seemingly ‘closed world’ of The class
What do children ‘do’ in school? Sonia Livingstone sheds some light on the ‘mysteries’ of the school day. Together with Julian Sefton-Green, she followed a class of London teenagers for a year to find out more about how they are, or in some cases are not, connecting online. The book about ...more
Childhood and the pursuit of meaning in today’s connected world
What does it mean to be an adolescent today? Julian Sefton-Green and Sonia Livingstone spent one year with a class of 13- and 14-year-olds – at school, at home, with their friends and online – to find out what they make of everyday life. The book about this research project¹, The Class: ...more
Researching The class: A multi-sited ethnographic exploration
Sonia Livingstone explores how school and learning, home and family, and peer groups impact and shape children’s use of digital media. Sonia, together with Julian Sefton-Green, followed a class of London teenagers for a year to find out more about how they are, or in some cases are not, connecting online. The ...more
What and how should parents be advised about ‘screen time’?
Alicia Blum-Ross and Sonia Livingstone explore current attitudes and advice to parents in relation to children and ‘screen time’ and asks whether it is still fit for purpose in today’s world. This blog coincides with a new Media Policy Project policy brief on the subject, authored by Alicia Blum-Ross and Sonia Livingstone. Alicia is a researcher ...more